Rush and Response
by Side1ways
Summary: When James goes undercover for his latest assignment, he expects his strength, skill and wit to be tested. What he doesn't expect however is to fall in love with one of the suspects involved in his case. Will he let pleasure get in the way of business, or will he be able to remain professional when it's necessary.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi Guys and welcome to Rush and Response. Basically, I'm really in the mood to upload something and since nothing else is written, apart from Love, James which I'm keeping until Thursday, I thought I'd give you all this to read! So, this will be the story that replaces Class Vs Character when that finishes, which I think is a long way off, but like I said, I want to upload for some reason.**

 **As usual, I'm a rambling mess, so give this a read and let me know what you think!**

* * *

Everyone's heard of Hyperion Falls, the metropolis of the West coast, named after the waterfall that sits right in the centre of the city. The city itself a cosmopolitan, with many wealthy people living in the mansions in the northern border, or some even in the penthouses in the city itself. Skyscraper dominate the skyline, each with their own business, and during the night, the city seems to glow with the abundance of light produced. The waterfront is host to all kinds of water sports for tourists as well as private marinas for the wealthy to harbour their yachts. Schools are renown worldwide for their prestige, with the city being host to some of the best private schools in the country, and university in the area are also of a similar mantel, with the alumni being some of the best and brightest minds that now exist.

Of course, every city is a two-sided coin, and with Hyperion Falls, that other side is just as well-known. Many refer to Hyperion Falls as the Underworld, for when the darkness rises, all the fun in the city begins. Street racers ravage the streets and motorways, each trying to prove their worth in the City of Chance. Men, Women and depending on how you look at it, even children compete in these races, each wanting to earn the money necessary to either move on or move up. While the races themselves occur, anything is allowed, making it one of the most dangerous places to be. Well for the residents that is. For the racers, the winnings always out way the risks. What a risk of a broken leg when the winnings are $250 million. Car shows are also a staple in the City, with racers wanting to show of their rides in order to gain the chance for some action, not just on the track, and every good racer in the city seems to a rival, a nemesis in which they compete to take down. The races are long, fast and on many occasions bloody, with the racers showing no mercy against each other.

What is probably most baffling about this situation is that the police have so far been unable to capture any of the street racers or stop any of the events from occurring. When the police receive a call about a suspected street race, they are always quick to respond, and yet when they arrive at the scene, no one is there, not even pedestrians who stumbled into that area of the city. If the police are so lucky to even see a street racer, they are unable to catch the suspect due to the performance and intensity of the vehicles used against them. As if that wasn't enough for the police to deal with, the city's Crime Boss has started to become bolder with his dealing, now getting his employees to actively sell drugs on the street corners instead of back alley dealings. If only to add to the severity of the situation, the wealthy and influential have started being involved in a large number of crashes, and even to the naked eye, it would be clear that the attack on these people are no coincidence. At each crime scene, a calling card has been left, in order to taunt the police further. Tire Tracks litter the scene of the crash, and each time the police analyse them, they are always from a brand of street racing tire that isn't sold in any of the garages in the city, leading no trace to the suspect.

Finally, the police had had enough, and with a new officer being available from New York City, they crafted a plan that would finally net them the results they needed. Hopefully this officer would be as good as his record suggested, as he is their last and only chance at success.

* * *

As the sun set of Hyperion Falls, his alarm began to blare throughout the room, the noise piercing his ears as he attempted to ignore the sound and what it meant. As if to taunt him, a second alarm went off, only amplifying the annoying noise he was already hearing. Resigning himself to failure, James rolled over, and cancelled the alarm on his phone before pulling himself out of bed and walking over to his chest of drawers to cancel his alarm clock, finally silencing the infernal noise he was hearing.

He knew himself too well, and if it was just as easy as turning his phone off, the brunet knew that he would never make it out of bed, just in time to watch the sun set. Damn, he hated night shifts and he hadn't even worked one yet. He felt his routine was completely offset due to them and he feared that may degrade his mental and physical stability.

 _'You'll get used to it'_ His friends voice rung through his head, as if only to taunt him further. Sure, he probably would get used to it, but since it was something he has to get 'used' to, didn't that imply that it wasn't natural?

James groaned at his own thoughts, knowing that he wasn't ready for philosophy this early, late…this soon after waking up, and pulled himself into the kitchen of his apartment. It was nothing special, one bed with a small living room/kitchen and a bathroom, yet his served his purposes well and he didn't have to pay for it either, so he wasn't too fussed. As the began to brew the coffee pot, the brunet found himself staring out onto the city, watching as it seemed to hum with light.

It wasn't anything that he wasn't used to, if anything the feeling made him feel more at home, but he could feel the weight coming off of this light, almost like there was something lingering within it. Something he couldn't put his finger on. He was snapped out of his thoughts when the brewer dinged, and after pouring himself a cup of coffee, the brunet made his way back into his bedroom and the connecting bathroom. He placed the coffee on his chest of drawers, before stripping off and getting into the shower, knowing that by the time he was done, the coffee would be cool enough to drink, part of his usual _morning_ routine.

With the towel strung low around his waist, the brunet made his way back into the bedroom, taking a sip of his now cool coffee, as he shuffled through his clothes. For whatever reason, he'd been told to dress 'casual' and while he loved being in his own clothes, this certainly raised suspicion as to what his assignment would be. The brunet settled for a simple, yet effective look, a white t-shirt covered by a leather jacket, and black skinny jeans to accompany the boots that he was wearing.

Dressed, ready and recently caffeinated, James made his out of the apartment and hailed a cab to take him to the station, something once again that made him feel at home. The fleeting thought of this not being so bad passed through his mind but it was too early to agree with that, especially considering he didn't even have his assignment yet.

* * *

Walking into the station felt like a breath of fresh air for James, and he could already feel the difference just by being there. It was providing him with a fresh start, and one that he was ready to take, especially after everything that has happened in New York. Taking a deep breath, he walked up to the blonde sat at the reception desk. She didn't look up at first when he approached, instead typing away at her computer like there was no tomorrow, and it wasn't until James cleared his throat that she glanced up at him. As soon as her eyes caught sight of him however, he could feel her rake her eyes across in, savouring every inch as she took it in for the first time. James wasn't usually self-conscience, but this definitely did the job at making that feeling return.

"And how may I help you sir?" she said, a flirtatious smile on her face as she spoke.

"Um, I'm Detective James Diamond, I'm starting here today" he replied, causing the smile on her face to grow.

"Oh, of course! Well, let me be the first to welcome you to HFPD, and I for one am certainly grateful to have you" Standing up from her desk, she unlocked the door that lead to the station itself and allowed him through before locking it once again. As the blonde rushed back over to her computer, James took a quick glance to see what she was typing before computer was locked. He internally groaned slightly when it was that she was looking up nail salons in the local area, but as she walked back, he forced a smile in his face, hoping to stay polite.

"So, I'm Jo, and I'm the receptionist here at the station. I'll collect any post for you, forward any phone calls you need to take, or inform you if any witnesses come forward about your case" she began, causing James to roll his eyes. One, because he knew exactly what her purpose was, and two because she was walking rather close to him, which he just couldn't stand. "So, your desk is on the second floor, but before you settle in, the captain has requested to see you, so good luck, he can be a bit explosive." Raking her eyes over him one last time, she finally finished. "And if you need anything, don't hesitate to come see me" Luckily the lift door opened just as she finished, so he was quick to get into it, and press the button to the second floor.

With another flirtatious smile and wave, he finally saw Jo leave as the door closed, and he couldn't help but press his head against the metal walls of the lift. He certainly didn't need that in his work environment, but at least if it was from a male, he may have got a kick out of it. Now, he just felt dirty and he hadn't even been the one to do anything. Knowing that the lift door was going to open at any moment, he was quick to ready himself and get back into the professional head space.

With a quick check of his hair in the mirror, the doors opened, revealing his new work space. It wasn't any different to what he was used to, with a load of desks sat in a large area and right at the back was the only walled office, with contained the captain. On the left was a small break room, which James could see contained a kitchen and a few vending machines, and against the right wall was the holding pen which at the moment contained quite a good number of criminals.

 _'At least the cops are capable'_ James thought to himself as he began his walk through the space. Only a few officers were working at their desk, and when one guy saw him, he was quick to stand up and get in James' way.

"Woah, there. You don't expect to get by without introducing yourself, do you?" The guy asked, James internally groaning again, before he spoke.

"Of course not. I was just going to check in with the captain first, then make the rounds" he replied, glancing over at the captain's office once again in a hope that this obstacle would move out of his way.

"But since I'm here already. Why don't we introduce ourselves!" the guy sounded cheery, as he sat on the edge of his desk pretending to act all cool. "So, I'm Jett Stetson, and by far the best detective in the station, if not also the best looking."

"James Diamond, pleasure" James replied, rolling his eyes at the narcissism of this guy.

"Oh, that's right! You're the new detective!" Jett said, tapping James on the arm slightly as he continued to speak. "You know, I reviewed your file. It was impressive, if not a big sparse" Jett replied, causing James to roll his eyes again.

 _'So, he's this type of cop´_ James thought to himself. He'd dealt with these before, so he knew how to handle it. "Well, that's what happens when you bring down one of the biggest drug cartels in New York City. There's not a lot of time for other cases, like…the burglaries I see that your filing" James replied, glancing down at Jett's desk to see the file. "Let me guess, did the perp leave fingerprints for you to follow?" he continued, and that caused Jett to growl slightly at him. With a smug smile on his face, James concluded their conversation. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to talk to the captain. I'm sure he's going to want to assign me a real case" As he made his way past Jett, he could feel the anger seething off of the brunet, and James couldn't help but smile about that.

No one dared try to put him in his place, especially a stuck up detective such as Jett. He didn't need to be dealing with that, especially on his first day. When he reached the office door, he knocked twice before waiting to be called in, knowing that he definitely shouldn't just let himself in on the first day. When he received a gruff enter, he opened the door to reveal the captain staring at the TV screen on his wall with the news being displayed. Before James could even introduce himself, the Captain spoke up.

"What do you see here" the man asked, still not turning around to face James. The brunet raised his eyebrow at the image and the man before continuing.

"A car crashed into the central reservation of the dual carriage way?" James replied, stating exactly what he saw. There was a black car that was crashed into the concrete barrier, with the obvious point of impact being the front of the car which had crumpled. The windshield was smashed, with half the drivers body hanging out, which to James indicated that the driver didn't have his seat belt on, or that the crash was so powerful that it freed him of the restraint. There was a set of tire marks behind the crash, which suggested that the car had braked rather rapidly before crashing, but that didn't add up in James' mind.

"The tire marks behind the car don't fit into the equation. They are running parallel to the barrier, which would indicate that the car emergency stopped, turned ninety degrees and then drove into the barrier at high speed" he continued, and it was only then that the captain finally turned to him. He was a larger fellow, and James saw how he was balding on the top of his head, probably due to the stress of the job. Some would say that his beard made up for it, but James didn't count himself among them.

"You're better than they initially said detective. Captain Gustavo Rocque" the captain said, extending his hand which James met for a handshake. When the two of them pulled out, Gustavo gestured to the seat in front the desk, while taking his own. James followed suit, sitting in the chair as he spun round the paperwork that was sat on his desk. "This isn't the first crash that has happened like this" he began, opening the file to show James that there had been three other crashes just like this. "At first, we assumed the tire tracks were the victims and that it was just an unfortunate accident, but when they appeared at the two other scenes as well, we knew that it must have been something more. When we got them analysed, we found that the tracks match a high performance tire. Now, I don't know about you, but I wouldn't class an Escalade a high performance car, and when we checked the tires, they don't match. I'm guessing you know what Hyperion Falls is famous for in the criminal world"

"Street racing." James replied, finally looking up at the file. "You think the street racers are somehow involved with the murders?"

"When we searched the garages in the city, none of them sold the tires we found, but they all said that they were used on street racing cars. The only problem is we don't know why they are involved in these murders, and we need you to find out why" Rocque finished, closing the file and pulling it away from James, who was currently staring at Rocque with his eyebrow raised. Placing his hands on the desk with his fingers interlinked, he continued. "We don't have any solid leads, but I'm convinced that the city's Crime Boss is somehow involved in this. I don't know if you read the descriptions of the victims, but all of them are wealthy and influential, and I can guarantee you the same same thing about the latest victim. We need you to go undercover in the street racing circle and try to find out anything you can about who this Crime Boss is, or even who is committing these murders. We need more leads than just the tire tracks, and our usual officers have been unable to get them. We're too well known, but you, you're new" Gustavo continued, as James took in all of the information.

He'd never done this before but the officers who'd helped him take down the drug cartel had, and he knew that he couldn't have done it without them. The brunet nodded slowly, causing a grin to appear on Gustavo's face as he continued. "Perfect!" Gustavo said, pulling himself up from his seat, and leading James back through the work area. He saw the glare that Jett had given him, responding with a smug smile once again, before Gustavo spoke up. "So, what we've done for you is deleted every trace of you from the internet. While undercover, we want you to just be yourself, minus the cop part of course. Since this is your first time undercover, it'll allow you to tell a more believable story and hopefully they won't be able to catch you out on a lie"

"Isn't that like, really dangerous?" James asked, causing Gustavo to shake his head.

"We've taken every precaution to make it safe. Our technical officers are very thorough, and we've also had some help from the FBI to make sure it's done properly. We don't need you being caught out because you forgot the fact that you were born in March instead of October" Gustavo continued, as the two of them walked into the lift. Gustavo pressed the GA button, causing the lift to start travelling downwards, and a silence filled the air that James wasn't used to. Back in New York, he knew most of the people he was working with, and always tried to at least involve himself in some sort of lift talk in order to make the situation less awkward. However, not knowing anything about Gustavo, and sensing the fact that the older male wouldn't want to share, he resided himself to a few minutes of awkward silence and was so grateful when the door opened to reveal the parking garage underneath the building.

As the two of them stepped out, James' eyes instantly focused to a brunette girl who was stood by what James presumed to be an unmarked vehicle, and yet it wasn't from a company that was used. Usually, the unmarked cars were SUV or sedans, but this time it looked to be some sort of sports car, and that's when it clicked in his mind.

"Officer Roberts, this is detective Diamond" Gustavo said, as the brunette girl offered him a handshake.

"Pleasure" she smiled, before turning back to face Gustavo.

"I'm sure everything is ready?" he asked, causing her to nod as she opened the drivers side door.

"This will be your car detective. It's an Audi TT RS Coupe, with a top speed of 174mph and a 0-60 of 3.6 seconds" she began, gesturing James to get into the driver's seat. "She's been outfitted for police service however. The glove box can't be opened unless the light switch at the top is on, and in there you'll find all your gear; handcuffs, gun, torch, walkie talkie and it's also a place for you to store your badge. You'll also notice the ear phone that comes out from the left side of the seat" she mentioned, causing James to look over at said earphone. "The car is equipped with microphones, which allows me to listen to anything that is going on, in and around the car as well as letting me communicate with you discreetly. You can turn that off however, by pressing this button on the radio" she continued, pointing to said button on the dash.

"I'm surprised she doesn't have cameras" James joked, thinking about all of the high tech stuff the car had been kitted with.

"Funnily enough, cameras are impractical for this type of surveillance" Camille replied, causing James to quirk an eyebrow at her, confusion written all of his face. "In this case, the cameras could only be fitted at the front of the car, and it already has a reversing camera. The problem is, the cameras don't provide a lot of manoeuvrability when they are installed, so unless I want to watch you racing around the streets of Hyperion Falls, they're not much good"

With that being said, Gustavo spoke up once again. "I'm allowing you extremely privileges with this assignment James, as we need to get this information but even that has limits. Also, try not to get injured. Some of these racers are extremely dangerous, and I don't want to have lost you because you picked a fight with the wrong guy" Gustavo finished causing James to nod.

"Anything else I should know?"

"Don't scratch her" Camille added, giving James a quick death glare before shutting the car door. James placed all his equipment into the glove box of the car, and with a beep of the horn, he left the garage ready to begin his new assignment.

He hadn't failed before, and he'd be damned if he was going to fail this one.

* * *

 **So there we go. Reading this back, I don't know if it feels a little bit rushed, but let me know what you guys think! I will see you all on Thursday for Love, James but until then,**

 **TTFN :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi Guys and welcome back to Rush and Response! So, it's been a while since I uploaded the first chapter of this but this will now be the continuing story for the next...however long! Anyway, let's crack on shall we?**

* * *

As James pulled up to a set of traffic lights, he couldn't help but feel a bit stunted. He'd been given all this power under the hood of the car, and so far, he'd had no reason to use it. From what he could tell, the most this city contained was a bad case of 'weekend driver' who didn't seem to know the rules of the road. In any other situation, James would have definitely issued a ticket, but he knew the risk was too high. Instead he turned to the next best thing, grabbing the earphone from the side of the seat, and slotting it in.

"You know, I'm starting to think the rumours are just that. According to the map, I'm on one of the most popular roads for racing, and yet no one is here" James spoke up, keeping an eye on the traffic in the street.

"I know, but you just need to be patient. It's still early out"

"If it's early now, then why did I leave two hours ago?"

"Because if you left now and a racer spotted you, the whole thing would be bust" Camille replied, as James began to hear tapping coming from her radio.

"What's that? Are you searching something?" he asked, causing her to chuckle.

"No, I'm getting into the cameras in the area to see if I can spot anything. It's either that, or I listen to you moan for the next half an hour" she replied, causing him to let out a hearty chuckle.

With the light turning green, he pressed against the gas pedal, and as soon as his car had crossed the white line, he was met with a loud rumbling as another car shot past in front of him. The civilian vehicles next to, and opposite him slammed on their breaks in order to stop themselves from crashing into the blur of speed but James did the exact opposite, slamming the gas pedal down, causing him to fly back into his seat, while turning the steering wheel to the left in order to the follow the car that had shot past.

"Holy fuck. I've got one!" James cheered, as the car drifted around the corner ready to pursuit the reckless driver. The engine revved as the turbo charge kicked in, allowing him to quickly gain speed to catch up with his mystery driver.

"What road are you on, and I can follow you through the cameras" Camille spoke into his ear, as James forced his car round another bend to keep up.

"Moving westbound on Lyncrest" the brunet replied, swerving in between two taxis in order to keep up. By this point, James was getting closer to the perp he was chasing, and finally catch a glimpse of the car he was driving. "Camille, do you see us? They're in a blue mustang"

"Got em'. Oh, that's not a bad car. Ford Mustang GT. Basic specs are 0-60 in 4.8 seconds, top speed 155mph. You should be faster James"

"Now account for the fact that I've never raced before." James replied, watching as the Mustang driver pulled onto the pavement in order to bypass the cars in their way. James tried to keep up with the driver, driving on the wrong side of the road instead of the path before continuing to Camille. "How do you know so much about cars anyway?"

"Trust me, when you work in a city like this, you have to know about cars. Plus, google is always your friend!" She replied, a smirk growing on James' face at her remark as they shot across a four way traffic light system, completing intercepting the other flow of traffic, causing a loud series of beeps as well as a few sounds of cars crashing.

"What was that?" he asked, glancing in his rear view mirror to witness some of the carnage.

"It was nothing too serious, a car swerved into another one. It's minor damage, but I've already alerted the paramedics and an ambulance is on its way. If you wanna avoid something worse, I suggest you get in front of this guy, and lead them down into the river system. This time of year, the river's low enough that it hardly flows through it"

"OK, but I'll need directions."

"On it" Camille replied, James hearing her type away as he put his foot down a little more, trying to overtake the perp. As James sped up, he could see how the driver was watching him in his rear view mirror, and James could definitely pick up on the smirk that the driver grew. At the front bumper of James' car was parallel to the rear bumper on the racer's, the blue mustang shot forward once again, leaving James in the dust once more.

"What happened to me being faster?!" James questioned into the mic, as he pushed his car further to try and catch up once again. The driver was definitely watching the brunet, as he struggled to get past two slow moving cars, and after a spur of confidence, James found himself squeezing through the middle of them.

"I said they were the basic specs. There's no telling what they've done to the car themselves"

"So, you're telling me in racing an experienced racer with a car that might be more powerful than mine?"

"Yes. Now shut up and get in front of him!" Camille commented back, causing James to shake his head in frustration before pushing down on the accelerator even more after turning right onto a one way straight, in which he was facing the opposite direction. James could see how the racer was watching every move he was doing, and if James was being serious, he was starting to get a frustrated with it. It made it worse however when the two of them made eye contact and the racer had the cheek to wink at him.

"I need a shortcut. I can't get past him on the road, so I'll have to try another way to get in front of him" James stated, causing a flurry of typing to come from the opposite side of the phone.

"How risky are you willing to be?"

"Risky enough to get me ahead, but not so much so that I'll be killed" James replied, causing Camille to nod once again.

"Alright, by his road position, I'm guessing the racer is going to take a right at the next intersection" Camille narrated, causing James to look to his right slightly.

"You're shitting me right?"

"You wanted to get ahead" Camille replied, and James could hear her shrug.

As if on cue, the driver turned right at the intersection, causing James to veer off the road, in an attempt to cut the corner. Of course, that led the brunet straight through the middle of a pedestrian shopping street, one that was not cut out for cars at all. The brunet maintained focus as he shot through the narrow passages in between the buildings, unaware of the racer's new location.

"God, I hope I'm ahead" James mumbled, as his car shot out from the walkway and back onto the road. Glancing into his rear view mirror, the brunet realised that he was finally ahead so he turned his attention back to the road. "Camille, I need directions" James stated, causing Camille to hum.

"Ok, I'm directing you to the closest entrance. You'll need to take the next left" she ordered, causing James to nod, as he shot across three lanes of traffic as he approached the turning. The driver behind him seemed to follow, and when the turn finally appeared the two of them drifted around it, James just barely missing an oncoming car. "Damn, that was close!" Camille said, watching him through the traffic cameras.

"Less opinions, more directions" James replied, causing a tut to sound.

"Say on this road for about another kilometre. After that, you'll come to a crossroad and you'll wanna take a right, followed by a sharp left. That'll lead you down a slip road which you'll want to follow to reach the concrete valley which the river sits in"

"Got it" James replied, as he looked into his rear view mirror once more. James could tell that the racer was readying to go around him, so James decided to mimic his actions. As soon as the car veered left slightly, James pulled in front of him, and the same happened as soon as the driver tried to go right as well. Of course, it made it slightly more difficult because of the other cars that were on the road but James would have liked to have thought that he was getting better.

"You're coming up to the crossroad now" Camille commented, causing James to mentally prepare himself. The traffic light he was approaching was red, but of course, the brunet knew that he couldn't stop for it, especially if he wanted to keep some sort of dignity with this racer. Instead, he pressed further on the gas pedal, causing the rev metre on the car to spike as the car shot forward, and straight under the lights.

"Right" James mumbled to himself, remembering the direction he was supposed to go in, only to realise that he was sailing past the exit. As a last ditch effort, the brunet found himself pulling on the handbrake, causing the whole car to jolt slightly as the wheels locked into place. Turning the steering wheel hard to the right, he was able to drift round the corner, noticing how the racer behind him had done the same thing. The flurry of lights and beeps that followed the two of them was disorientating, but James tried his best to try and ignore them all as he focused on getting to where he needed to be. As the car lined up with the lane, he quickly released the handbrake and pressed on the gas slightly, remembering the sharp left Camille mentioned.

Keeping a sharp eye, the brunet managed to swing the car round that corner as well, and before long, he was driving down a small service road. A brief glance in his rear view mirror worried James, as he noticed the driver hadn't made it, but on his double take, he saw the blue mustang finally slotting round the corner, and coming close to his rear. James could see the smile that he driver was sporting, although the rest of his face was still a little unclear.

The brunet refocused on the road, when he felt the front of the car drop as he began to descend down the ramp into the engineered river valley. Much like Camille had said, the river was running through a smaller valley in the middle, allowing them access onto the ground level. As soon as the car level out once more, James pulled the car under one of the street lights, doing a 180 degrees spin, as the blue mustang parked in front of him, the two cars facing each other.

"I'm going to talk to them" James told Camille, as he popped his door open slightly.

"Alright, and remember that the car has microphones all the way around, so we'll be able to record everything you're saying. Try to get them to give up some sort of information, anything that'll give us an idea of where they are operating from" Camille replied, causing James to nod before he removed the earphone from his ear.

As one final precaution, the brunet found himself turning on the light switch, causing the glovebox to unlock, and as discreetly as he could, he grabbed the pistol from the the compartment. Better safe than sorry was his theory. Taking one final deep breath, the brunet pulled himself from the car, and slotted the pistol into the back of his trousers before finally walking towards the front of his car. Trying to remain casual, the brunet found himself leaning on the bonnet of the car, and he knew that he was successful when the driver's door of the blue mustang finally popped open.

A hand emerged from the door, and grabbed onto the roof of the car, along with a leg, causing the driver to smoothly hoist themselves from the vehicle and lean on the car door, only slightly illuminated from the street lamp above, yet is was still enough the take James' breath away.

Blond hair sat ruffled on his forehead, which only seemed to compliment the vibrant green eyes that James instantly picked up on. The shirt the guy was wearing fit perfectly with his tight frame, causing his muscles to flex whenever he moved his arm, or chest and his black skinny jeans only seemed to emphasis his slender legs. James could only imagine what it would do for his ass.

All of this was made sexier by the confident attitude the man was sporting, causing James to go weak at his knees slightly, luck for him that he was resting on the bonnet. Still, James put on his best face as the guy approached, trying his best not to blush and swoon in the presence of the racer.

"I suppose congratulations are in order" was the first thing the blond male said, causing a grin to grow on James' face. "Still, I suppose it was pretty close"

"Can't accept defeat?" James mocked, causing a smirk to grow on the mysterious man's face.

"Not usually I can't, which means that you're doing something right" he replied with a wink, causing a small blush to grow on the brunet's face before the blond continued. "You're new around here aren't you. I've never seen you before, and trust me, I would have remembered if I had"

"I moved here last night" James lied, causing the blond to nod.

"You work quick then"

"Not too quick I hope" James flirted back, causing the blond to chuckle once again.

"Can I get a look? Not many cars can keep up with mine, but you're gave it a shot anyway. Must be something good under there"

"Sure" James shrugged, pulling himself up from the bonnet as he headed back towards the driver's door. Making sure to turn off the light this time, locking the glove box, James pressed the release latch on the bonnet, causing it to pop open slightly. He was quick to move back over to the front of the car, noticing how the blond was now doing the same, and as James secured the bonnet on the prop rod, he could feel how close the blond was to him, as it to further their already flirty nature.

"Nice." The blond commented, brushing the front of his trousers against James' arse before he moved against the front bumper himself. "2.5 litre, five cylinder engine, resulting in 400hp, 354 torque and 0-60 in"

"3.6 seconds" James interrupted, repeating the knowledge that Camille told him earlier, so he sounded like he knew what the blond was talking about. "And a top speed of 174mph, although I feel like I could probably get a little more out of her"

"That so?" the blond asked, spinning around so that his ass was now leaning on the bonnet, close to James' hand. James noticed the subtle movement the blond was doing, but he decided not to let it distract him as he looked up to the blond's eyes, as if that were any better. The two of them maintained eye contact for a short while, James seeing the swirl of emotion was that going through the blond's eyes, yet not being able to pick up on one in particular, but that was broken when the blond looked away, staring out at his own car. "You know, I could do with a new racer in my crew. If you're interested that is?"

"Of course I am, there's only one reason why you moved out to Hyperion Falls" James replied as the blond made eye contact with him again. "Where's you're base?"

"Woah, not so fast hot stuff" the blond responded, before pulling himself up from the bonnet and spinning around so he could face James. "I need to see what you can really do during an actual street race"

"Name a time and a place. I'll take you anywhere" James shrugged, smirking at what he'd said. Luckily, the blond picked up on it as well, causing him to look James up and down.

"I'm sure you would" he smirked, before slowly walking backwards towards his car. "Meet at the underpass by Jefferson Bridge. 1:30, tomorrow morning. Show me what you've got, and I'll consider letting you in" the blond stated, causing James to nod as the blond reached for his car door. James was mesmerised by the way the blond moved, but he quickly snapped out of it when he'd remember what Camille had said.

"Wait" James called out, causing the blond to poke his head up from behind the door, his eyebrow raised. "Don't I get your name?" James asked, causing the blond to smirk slightly.

"Wow me tomorrow, and you'll get it, sweet cheeks" the blond replied, before closing the mustang's door.

With a rev of the engine, the mustang shot forward and drifted round 180 degrees before pulling back up the ramp, and out of the river valley, leaving just James illuminated under the light. With a smile on his face, the brunet was quick to close the bonnet before getting back into the car. After placing the gun back into the glovebox, James picked up the earphone and slotted back in.

"Camille did you catch that? I've got a meeting with him tomorrow"

"Yeah, we got it." She replied, causing James to let out a sigh of relief. "I have the captain here for you, he want's a word" she continued, causing James to nod, despite the fact that they couldn't see him.

"Patch him through" James replied, causing a small piece of static to sound as it switched channels.

Unsure of what to expect, James readied himself for the worst.

* * *

 **So there we have it! James got out street racing, and met one of the racers in the city, I wonder who it is? 😜 They've set up a time and a place to meet, to see whether James is worth it or not!**

 **I want to say a massive thank you to Winterschild11, White Collar Black Wolf, Guest, EpicallyObsessed and RainbowDiamonds for reviewing the last chapter and I'm so glad that you all enjoyed it! I'm glad that you all hate Jett and Jo, that was definitely planned, and I can't wait for you to see what I have in store for this story! I will quickly add however that I know nothing about cars, so anything you see is the result of a google search!**

 **And I want to say thank you again to Winterschild11, Guest, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter of Love, James! Thank you all so much for your kind words, and I'm also sad that that story is at an end. It was one of my favourites, so I'm so glad you all loved it!**

 **Anyway, I will see you all on Monday for the next chapter of Class VS Character, but until then,**

 **TTFN😃**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi Guys and welcome back to Rush and Response! So, I've had a stressful few days writing a essay I left until the last minute, so this is a welcome break for me. Anyway, let's crack on with it shall we? Oh, and again, I know nothing about cars or engine parts, so anything you read in here is based off of a google search and may be massively wrong** 😃

* * *

"Captain" James greeted, hoping to get a sense of Gustavo's mood before they began.

"Detective." Gustavo replied, James hearing some shuffling from the other side of the mic. "Officer Roberts told me you made contact with one of the racers. That's the farthest we've got in years so good work" Gustavo continued, causing James to let out a sigh.

"Thank you, sir. Did Officer Roberts share what was said?"

"No, I thought I'd let you share the news" Gustavo replied, causing James to let out a small sigh of relief. It was hard enough having one person hear all the flirting that was going on, but having the captain of the entire HFPD hear it as well would have been disastrous.

"It has been decided that I'm worthy of a chance to get into the racers crew. He's given me a time and a location for tomorrow, where the two of us will take part in a street race to determine how skilled I am, and whether or not I'll be allowed in. That was all the information I got from him, but his description is a male, about 5ft 9, blond haired, green eyes"

"Perfect, I'll get the uniformed officers to run that description through the database, we can identify the guy." Gustavo began, causing James to nod. "As for the proposal, I say we go ahead with it. Like I said before, this is the closest we've ever gotten to the street racing circuit, and we can't lose the chance. Once you have a crew, it'll be easier for you to rise through the ranks, and hopefully that'll get us closer to the Crime Boss. But for the moment, report home" Gustavo continued, James quirking his eyebrow slightly even though no one could see what he was doing. "If you wanna pass as a street racer, you're going to have to learn a hell of a lot about cars. Go home and get some rest tonight, and tomorrow, I want you to report to X's Garage on Young Street by 9am. Officer Roberts will be there with you, and you'll spend the day preparing for the race. Is that understood?"

"Yes Captain" James replied, causing a gruff huff to sound out from the other side of the mic.

"Good, Rocque out" Gustavo finished, causing the mic to finally cut off and James to let out a sigh.

At least the Captain was happy with his progress and he didn't get shouted at, so it was a positive in that regard, but it was just the whole learning about cars thing that he wasn't looking forward too. Anyway, the brunet shook that thought out of his mind as he revved the car engine once more before flooring it out of the concrete river valley and back onto the main road.

"Are you sure you should be driving this fast?" Camille's voice spoke in his ear, causing James to jump slightly in his seat.

"Jesus! You're still there?" he asked, causing Camille to chuckle.

"Indeed I am, I'm just packing my stuff up and getting ready to head home. Something about education an idiot on cars tomorrow or something"

"Ha Ha" James replied, using a completely monotone voice to answer Camille's joke, resulting in a snort from the other side of the mic as well as some shuffling.

"Ok, so while I have you here, I have to ask" she began, causing James to let out a groan. He feared that this would come, and low and behold it was. "The flirting back there was…um…is intense a good word? Or maybe obvious? It was something to say the least" Camille continued, James blushing as she spoke.

"Shut up! It's been a while since I've flirted, so I might have been a little rusty" James replied, causing her to chuckle.

"Rusty, sure" she repeated, almost as if she was mocking James slightly, although the brunet knew it was light hearted. "So, does that mean that you're…"

"Gay?" James finished the question for her, knowing what she was trying to ask. It was actually a question he got often, especially when working in the police force.

"Yeah, I am. Why, is that a problem?"

"Not at all. I'm just nosy and like to know everything about my partner."

"Partner?"

"Yes partner! Roberts and Diamond! The Power Partnership! We'll have worked on two missions together! I mean, I'm basically your handler!"

"I'm not a dog Camille"

"Not with that attitude you're not! Come on, partners?"

"Partners" James replied, a smile gracing his face as he replied.

"Yes!" Camille replied, and James could practically hear the fist pump that accompanied it, causing him to chuckle. "Well partner, I best be getting home. We've got a long day tomorrow, and I've got to be at my best if I'm gonna teach you anything. See you tomorrow"

"See you tomorrow partner" James replied, before hearing the earphone go silent.

* * *

The brunet was quick to pull it out of his ear as he focused on driving himself home, trying to be as fast yet as safe as possible, purely for the sake of work. If he wanted to convince the mysterious blond that he was a street racer, then he needed to drive like one at all times. That way, if anyone was watching him, then at least he'd be playing the part.

The drive home took James about 5 minutes, and as he found himself pulling into the underground parking lot his apartment building had, he couldn't help the sigh of relief that followed. His first day had been a success and he'd manage to prove his worth to the police captain. He was also one step closer to catching the Crime Boss, and sure, it was a small step, but in James' mind, any progress is positive progress.

Flipping on the light switch once more, James emptied the contents of the glove box, making sure not to leave any evidence of him being a cop in the car before he finally switched the ignition off and got out. As he locked the car, the brunet noticed how the wing mirrors folded in, causing a small smile to grow on his face as he made his way over to the lift, and pressed the button. The brunet couldn't help but look over at the car a couple of times, feeling a sense of pride with him driving such a vehicle as well as he did considering he hadn't been involved in a car chase for such a long time. It just goes to show that he was a fast learner.

As the lift door opened, James couldn't help the yawn that escaped his mouth, so he was quick to step into the metal box and press the button to his floor. As the lift rose, the brunet became increasingly aware of how tired he was, but due to the silence of the box, he also began to review what had said to him during the night, especially by Camille, and her critique of James' flirting.

How long had it been since the brunet had actually flirted? He had a boyfriend back in New York, but that must have been what? About 2 years ago now? It ended after the incident, James knew that for sure, remembering what the man had said to him when he threw himself into his work.

" _You need to stop, James! I've hardly seen you over the past few months. I know it's been a rough time for you, but you can't just throw yourself into your work to solve it!" Mike shouted at him, but James just shook his head._

 _"That's exactly what I need to do! The people who did it are still out there, and I have to find them! I can't let them get away with it, especially after everything that's happened!"_

 _"That's not healthy, James. You need time away from work, to process everything that has happened. You can't keep repressing your feelings, you need to acknowledge them and work through them"_

 _"And what? While I do that, the cartel will just continue to grow! I need to stop them now! Why can't you just support me on this!"_

 _"Because I can't watch my boyfriend descend into madness, while I just sit back and do nothing. It's not healthy James, and I can't let you carry on knowing that"_

 _"Then maybe you should leave" James said sharply, causing Mike to let out a gasp._

 _"What?" he asked in shock, causing James to shrug._

 _"Maybe you should just leave. If you can't sit back and watch me descend into madness, then maybe you should leave"_

 _"Are you breaking up with me?"_

 _"Are you going to support me in this?" James asked, causing Mike to shake his head._

 _"You know I can't. It's not right"_

 _"Then, yes, I'm breaking up with you" James replied, his face now stone, while Mike started to gather tears in his eyes._

 _Holding it together, he spoke up._ _"Fine, if that's what you want. But seriously James, for the sake of health, please don't throw yourself into your work"_

 _"Goodbye Mike" James replied, completely ignoring what his ex had said._

 _"Goodbye James" Mike replied, before spinning on his heels and walking to the door._

 _As the door opened, Mike took one last look at the brunet, to try and gauge some sort of emotion from him. Still, James' face was stone, causing a tear to stroll down Mike's face before he closed the door behind him._

 _As soon as the door clicked into place, that's when James released the flood of tears that he'd been holding back, falling down onto his couch as he reflected on what Mike had said. Sure, James knew what he was doing wasn't healthy, but he had to continue his search for the cartel, otherwise everything would be for nothing._

 _The loss of the man he loved so much would have been for nothing._

Looking back on it now, James could see how he'd had the wrong reaction to what Mike had said. It was clear to him now that he should have listened to his boyfriend of the time, and processed what he was feeling, rather than just bottling it up. Still, the brunet knew that he couldn't change the past and in the end everything had worked out for him…to some extent at least.

If everything was perfect, then he wouldn't have ended up in his city.

The brunet shook the thoughts from his mind as he unlocked the door to his apartment and stepped inside. After reviewing his past, James knew that this space felt barren and empty, nothing compared to his old home in New York. Still, the brunet preferred this to that, as this apartment didn't hold the same memories his old one had.

* * *

Finding X's Garage was a little more convoluted than James would have imagined, so the brunet couldn't help the sigh of relief when he finally saw Camille stood on the pavement, waving to him. Pulling up next to her, James rolled down the window causing Camille to stick her head in.

"About time" she joked, causing James to blush slightly.

"Sorry, I got a little lost" he replied, causing her to playfully roll her eyes.

"Now before we go in, just remember, we're not cops, we're just a couple of street racers looking to work on our car. The less people who know about us being cops, the better" she said, causing James to nod.

"Got it"

"Good, now X said to pull into the bay right at the end. I've paid him enough that he'll leave us alone for the whole day, meaning we can just crack on with it." She continued, James nodding once again before Camille pulled her head from the window and began to lead James into the bay they needed to be in. Turning the car engine off, James pressed the bonnet release on the car, causing it to pop open slightly, something Camille was quick to take advantage of as she hoisted the bonnet open, and secured it with the prop stick.

As that was happening, James pulled himself from the car and took a quick look around the garage. Tires seemed to be littering the wall, as well as a load of other car parts that James didn't have a clue about. Three lifts sat down the middle of the room, allowing the mechanics that worked here to be able to work on the underside of the cars, but other than them and X, the garage was completely void of people. As James approached the front of the car, he noticed how Camille had rolled her sleeves up, causing the brunet to do the same. He'd expected to get dirty, especially when working around a car engine and that was the reason why he was wearing a long sleeve t-shirt and some fabric tracksuit bottoms rather than his usual jeans and jacket ensemble.

"So, the blond you met yesterday knew quite a bit about cars, meaning that you won't be able to just muddle your way through. I'm going to try and teach you the basics today, so you'll have some idea about what is going on, but this will very much be an ongoing process alright?" Camille asked, causing James to nod. Practically, he didn't have any choice at all, but at least Camille was making it sound like he did. "Ok, so yesterday, he said that your engine was a 2.5 litre, five cylinder engine. Do you know what that means?" she continued, causing James to shake his head.

"Not a clue" James replied, causing Camille to chuckle as she shook her head.

"It's gonna be a long day" she mumbled, before pointing to the cylinder head cover. "So under there are 5 cylinders, which are essentially the powerhouse of the car. It's where the fuel is converted into power. The 2.5 litre part refers to the total volume of the engine. So, the more cylinders, the bigger the engine and the more powerful it is" she began, causing James to nod along. "Now, you'll also see that the engine is made out of lightweight aluminium, and that means that the friction between the cylinder and the cylinder block is decreased therefore more power is delivered. When the blond talked about 354 torque, he was referring to how much pulling power the car has" Camille continued, causing James to quirk an eyebrow at her.

"Pulling power?" he asked, causing her to nod.

"Yeah. Basically, you know when you shot off from the traffic lights, and you pushed back into your seat? That's torque. And the 400hp was referring to the horsepower the car has, which indicates how much sustained work the car can do. 400hp is definitely alright, but if you want to win more races, you're definitely going to want more. Don't worry, I can help you out with that, we'll start with adding a supercharger directly to the engine. That will force more air into the engine, which will also increase the amount of fuel allowed in, meaning that more power is created. Following?" She said, causing James to shake his head slightly.

"So, the supercharger will mean that more air and fuel will mix so that more power is producing meaning the car will go faster?" James asked, causing her to nod.

"Pretty much, yeah. And if we pick the right one, it will increase the horsepower by about 46% meaning the car will now have 584hp instead." Camille replied, causing James to nod. "Right, so let's strip an engine, shall we?" she continued, before taking a step back. James followed her lead, and once he was out of the way, Camille pressed the red button to her lift, causing the car to lift into the air, exposing the bottom of the engine for them to use.

"Fuck" James mumbled to himself, realising how deep in it he was now, causing Camille to chuckle as she handed James a socket wrench.

"Ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be"

* * *

Consider that James and Camille arrived at X's at 9am, by the time they had finished putting in the supercharger, it had easily gone 6pm, meaning that they had spend about 9 hours working on it. James was covered in oil and completely knackered by the time they were finished, as was Camille, but he was also feeling a lot better with his knowledge about car engines.

"That should be all good. Once the car's back on the ground, fire up the engine, just so we know it'll run properly. The last thing we need is for us to have done all of that work only to have the engine break on us" She joked slightly, causing James to chuckle.

"That would be horrible" James replied, just as the tires hit the ground. James was quick to move over to the car, before he opened the driver's side door and pressed the push start button. The car revved at the action, as the engine started up and before long, it was purring like usual.

"Nice, so it's not broken. To test out the supercharger, we'll have to take it out for a spin" Camille continued, causing James to nod.

"How far are we from the river? We could use the concrete valley to test it out in" James replied, causing Camille to nod as she placed the last of the tools away.

"That's not a bad shout. It's about a 10 minute drive" Closing the tool box that they used, Camille made her way over to the car, climbing into the passenger side before the two of them closed the door.

As James reversed out of the garage, Camille got the precise location of the river up on the car's GPS, meaning that James could watch it while he drove. As he passed around some cars, Camille spoke up again.

"I have to admit, it's nice to be out of the office for a change" she began, causing James to glance over at her slightly, with his eyebrow raised, ushering her to speak on. "Usually, I'm stuck in all day, analysing traffic cameras and the movement of the racers. I rarely get the chance to actually see them in person, and it's unusual that I'm needed for anything more than that, so it's nice to put some of my skills to the test"

"You a gearhead then?" James asked as he took a right at the intersection they were on.

"Pretty much so. My dad was a mechanic, so growing up he taught me a lot of what I know. I thought I'd be able to combine my love for policing and cars out here in the heart of street racing, but I was instead dumped on office duty, monitoring the cars from afar" she continued, just as James pulled down the ramp into the river system.

"I'm glad I could help out then. You've been a really good teacher today, so thank you for that" James replied, flashing her a smile as he brought the car to a stop.

"Right, so you should be able to feel the turbo kick in as soon as you floor it. The car should shoot forward, and due to the supercharger bringing in more air, you'll get another burst of speed almost instantly." Camille instructed, causing James to nod as he began to rev the engine a little. He could already feel the power the car was exerting, and he couldn't help the grin that grew on his face.

"Ready?" James asked, looking over at Camille, who looked just as excited.

"Ready" she replied, as she gripped hold of the car door slightly.

With a grin on his face, James pushed down on the gas, causing the car to rev a little before he brought up the clutch. As soon as the car hit the biting point, it shot forward, causing him to wheel spin slightly as he got moving. The needle on the speedometer shot up, as James kept his hand securely on the wheel, keeping the car as straight as possible.

As soon as the needle hit about 30, the car was hit with another burst of speed, instantly thrusting them forward once again, only making them go faster down the concrete paving. James doubted it would take 3.6 seconds to hit 60 now, with them easily surpassing number within a couple of seconds. The engine revved loud as James switched into a higher gear, allowing the car to sustain the higher speeds, the speedometer quickly climbing past 100 and continuing it's ascent.

110,

120,

130

The meter continued to rise and if it wasn't for the outlet pipe that was coming up, James knew he could get the car to go faster. Alas, he applied the brake, using this as a chance for him to practise his drifting skills. Hoping to drift the car to the left, James quickly turned the steering to the right, before sharply turning the steering wheel to the left, hoping to initiate a weight transfer.

All of the weight on the car shifted to the right side of the vehicle as it turned to the left, meaning that the back end of the car began to pull out a little more than the front, resulting in the car to drift. By the time the car had turned a full ninety degrees, James slammed on the brakes properly, meaning that they'd come a full stop, both him and Camille now fuelled with adrenaline.

"That was incredible!" James cheered, letting go of the steering wheel so he could turn to give Camille a high five. The action was quickly met with a response by an enthusiastic Camille.

"Hell yeah it was! You're definitely cut out to be a racer! Camille replied, causing the grin on James' face to grow. The two of them sat there in silence for a few minutes as they calmed down, both reliving the moment over and over again before Camille finally spoke up. "We should probably get home" she said, as she glanced at the clock before looking at James. "We've got to be up and ready for 12, so we should try and get some sleep in now" she continued, causing James to nod.

"Yeah, you're right. What your address?" James asked, as he put the car into first gear again and pulled off.

"Here, it's on the map for you" Camille replied, as the two of them retraced their steps from earlier. "So, you think you're ready?" Camille asked, causing James to shrug.

"As ready as I'll ever be. The car's in good condition, and I'm getting the hang of driving her, so I think I've got a shot at least" he replied, as the two of them drove up the ramp, out of the river system and onto the main road. As James pulled onto the main road, Camille sat there wondering whether she should bring up the question that was burning in her mind. After a deep breath, she finally went for it.

"So, I have to ask" she began, causing James to look over at her. "Why would one of the best cops in New York move out here? I read your file, you were one of the best detectives there, and you basically brought down the largest drug cartel in the city single-handedly, so why'd you move?" she asked, glancing over at James. The tension in James' body was clearly visible to Camille, and she also took note of how tight he was gripping onto the steering wheel now. She'd definitely pushed a button.

"I had my reasons" James replied, his tone a little short, causing Camille to get the message.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to pry"

"Don't worry about it" James responded, but Camille could see he was still affected by the question.

From that moment on, the car ride was spent in silence, the only noise being the rev of the engine, or the other motorists on the road. James was still tense during the drive, having been forced to relive his past but he was definitely grateful that Camille didn't push any further. So, as they finally pulled up outside her apartment building, James let out a sigh.

"I'm sorry I was short with you back there. I just don't like talking about my past"

"It's fine, I'm sorry I pried into it" Camille replied with a smile. "I guess we'll talk later. Remember 1:30 under the Jefferson Bridge. Be on the mic by 1, and I'll get you there"

"Thank you" James replied, causing Camille to flash him a smile once more before stepping out of the car. With a wave goodbye, James pulled off as he began his journey back to his house.

He was in for a long night, so it would be best if he got some rest.

* * *

 **So there we have it! There was a lot of Camille and Jams bonding this chapter, with the two of them getting to know each other better, and we also got some insight into James' past. Something has clearly happened that caused him to move out to Hyperion Falls!**

 **I want to say a massive thank you to Winterschild11, Guest, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter, and I'm glad you all enjoyed it! Well, most of you enjoyed it, but one of you was a little bit stressed😜 Don't worry, not all of the chapters will have racing in them, so hopefully you'll be able to read along RainbowDiamonds😜 You all seemed to love the appearance of the mysterious blond, but of course, I'm not going to confirm or deny anything yet. Anyway, we'll meet that character again next time and we may even learn his name this time haha.**

 **Anyway, I will see you all on Monday for the next chapter of Class Vs Character, which I still need to write. With this essay, I may have neglected my stories a little bit, but I'm hoping this weekend, I can bash them out. Anyway, that's enough rambling so I will see you all next time! But until then,**

 **TTFN 😃🚗**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi Guys and welcome back to Rush and Response! So, it feels like forever since I've uploaded this chapter and I have to admit, I'm super excited to get into it, so let's crack on shall we?**

* * *

"Morning partner!" Camille said as soon as James placed the earphone into his ear, causing the brunet to jump.

"Jesus, you scared the life out of me" James replied, causing her to let out a little chuckle before James started the car's engine.

"So, you ready for this race?"

"As ready as I'll ever be, I suppose. Now that the car has the supercharger, hopefully I'll be able to get in front of him."

"If you can control the power that is" Camille replied, causing James to scoff.

"Please, I'll be able to control it" he replied, just before pulling out of the underground car park beneath his building. Of course, as soon as he put his foot down on the gas, the car engine revved before providing him an unneeded burst of speed. The brunet jolted in his seat slightly as the car shot forward before he quickly gained control of it. Still, that didn't stop the laughing that occurred in his ear.

"Got it under control?" Camille asked, still creasing with laughter, causing James to pout.

"Shut up" he mumbled back, causing Camille's laughter to intensity. "Can you at least put the address on the GPS, so I can drive while you're laughing at me?"

"Done and done" she replied, the map booting up to show James the way to the Jefferson Bridge while Camille let out her last few chuckles. When she'd calm down in James ear, he finally spoke up again.

"So, do we have any new information about the case, or an identification on the blond?" James asked, causing him to hear typing from the other side of the radio.

"Nothing. The uniformed officers are still running the information through the data base, but with such a vague description, it's going to be hard for them to even narrow it down before you get to see if you recognise them"

"Well, hopefully tonight, I'll get a little more information out of him"

"Or if not, just his name would be good. Once we've got that, we can get background information on him, see if he has a criminal record"

"But I'll only get that if I win, so it's a lot of pressure" James conceded, but he could hear how Camille was shaking her head on the other side of the radio.

"Technically, you only need to wow him, remember? I believe the exact quote was 'wow me tomorrow and you'll get it sweet cheeks'"

"Are you reading that from a file?"

"Everything you said has to be transcribed, boss' orders. So, just remember that what you're 'flirting' tonight" Camille replied, James practically hearing the quotation marks around the word 'flirting' causing him to let out a groan.

"Maybe I'll just turn it off if you're gonna take the mick out of me"

"Come on, you're no fun! But back onto the biggest issue, you'll be fine tonight James. Just drive like you mean it"

"But I don't even know my way around the city, so how am I supposed to race around it"

"Because you'll have me. As soon as he tells you the route, I'll put it straight into the GPS, which will calculate the quickest route. Plus, the paramedics are on standby in case anything goes wrong, both for you two and the general public, so don't worry about that too much. Just be careful, because it's best if we don't have to use them" she stated, causing James to nod along. "Any other worries?"

"Only that the precinct is laughing at my transcripts" James mumbled playfully, causing Camille to let out a chuckle.

"Don't worry, they're all classified to the general staff. It's only me, you and the Chief that have access to them."

"That makes me feel so much better" James joked, causing her to let out a chuckle.

"But seriously don't worry, I'll be helping you out though this entire thing" she replied once again, addressing James' real worries once again.

"Thanks partner" James replied, his tone soft to let her know that he was being genuinely serious, and he could practically imagine the smile on her face at the response.

"Anytime partner" she replied, causing James to let out a little chuckle as he continued to drive to the location, with a conversation flowing between them every now and again.

* * *

"I've got the cameras up for the underpass, and he's not here just yet" Camille said into James' ear as he pulled into the underpass.

"It's 1:30 exactly, where the hell is he? He better not stand us up" James replied, and just as he finished speaking, the two of them heard a massive rumbling sound come from the other end of the tunnel, with the blond's blue mustang following it. The car came directly at James and just at the last second, it swerved to the right, before the blond slammed on the brakes, causing the car to drift around the back of his. Almost perfectly, the blue mustang drifted around him before pulling up right along side of him, parking perfectly parallel to the Audi he was currently occupying.

"Duuuude, that was so cool!" Camille raved in his ear, causing James to chuckle.

"I have to admit, that was pretty impressive" James replied, before seeing the driver's side door of the mustang open.

"He's getting out, just remember that the mics are on, and I'm watching on the cameras, so try to get any information out of him that you can, and if anything goes south, I'll send back up." Camille continued, causing James to chuckle.

"I should be fine. Just keep an ear out for the route, the quicker I know where I'm going, the better" James replied, before taking the earphone out, and popping open the car door. By the time he was out of his car, the blond was leaning against the bonnet of the mustang, his posture confident and, if James was being honest, fairly sexy. "I am to admit, that was some entrance."

"Thanks sweet cheeks, it's always nice to know you have a fan" the blond replied, causing James to scoff as he moved round the bonnet of his car, before leaning on it, trying to match the blond's posture. "So, you ready to prove your worth?" the blond asked, before eyeing up James a little more, causing the brunet to blush ever so slightly.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"Good attitude" the blond replied, before pushing himself off the hood of his car, and walking closer the James. His breath hitched as the mysterious stranger approached, who was fully aware by his affect on James, evident by the smirk on his face. "So, we're racing to the St Lewis pier on the other side of the city, but I've also set up a few checkpoints along the way, you know to make it a little more exciting" The blond began, causing James to nod as the blond pulled his phone from his pocket, before loading up a maps app that already had the route planned. "So, from here, we're gonna race into the centre of the city, going straight through the high rises to see how you cope with heavy traffic flow. The first checkpoint will be the Synthesis Building" The blond continued, now pointing out the location on the map, helping James massively. "Then, we'll head out towards the waterfall, with the second checkpoint being right at the top of it. That'll test you're skill on tight winding roads"

"I'm good with tight" James quickly interrupted, causing the blond to smirk flirtatiously at his words, while James cringed internally at his own words knowing that Camille was listening. Still, it was better than nothing…although was it really? Luckily, he was snapped out of his head when the blond spoke up again, as he raked his eyes over James' body.

"I bet you are. Anyway, from there we'll climb back down, before we meet the home stretch, Myriam Street. It's a straight road leading right down to the pier, so that'll test your drag racing skills. Apart from that, it's simple. Impress me, and I'll let you in" the blond finally finished, causing James to nod.

"Anything else I should know?"

"Only that I expect a kiss when I win"

"If you win"

"Whatever you say hot stuff." The blond replied, giving James another cheeky grin before speaking up again. "Head around to the junction, and we'll line up on the white line. As soon as the lights go green, the race is on"

"What happens if they lights are already green?"

"They won't be" the blond replied with a vague answer, winking at James before he turned back to his mustang. Taking that as a sign, James spun around as well and within seconds of that happening, he felt something slap him on the arse, causing his blush to grow massively. "I was definitely right about 'sweet cheeks'" was whispered into his ear, causing James to shiver slightly before he felt the presence behind him disappear. Deciding not to react in anyway, knowing he'd probably embarrass himself a little more, James just made his way back to the driver's side door, before slipping into the car and putting in the earphone before anything else.

"You got the route?" He asked as he started the car's engine, much like the blond next to him had done.

"Yeah, it's just loading onto the GPS. I've also got the traffic cameras up for the two checkpoints he's mentioned but I can't see anything special" Camille replied, causing James to nod as he clipped in his seat belt.

The blue mustang next to him revved before pulling off, with James taking that as a signal to follow, and much like the blond had said, the light waiting for them was red. As the two cars lined up on the white line, James could feel his hands getting clammy as he gripped onto the steering wheel. His heart pulsed in his chest as his nerves and breathing increased, something that must have been a dead giveaway sign for Camille.

"Don't worry, you've got this. I'll be with you the entire time in case you need anything"

"Thanks" James replied, before hearing the blond's engine rev once more.

James focused up at the lights, watching as the red light flicked over to orange. That caused James to push down on the accelerator peddle a little, getting his engine to rev alongside the blond's. Glancing over at the blue mustang, James could make out one last cheeky grin from his competitor before focusing back on the lights, watching for the final time as it went green.

* * *

As soon as the light changed, James released the brake and slammed his foot down on the gas, causing the car to shoot off of the start line, with the blue mustang doing exactly the same thing next to him. For a short while, the mustang took the lead, but James didn't let it distract his focus, instead pressing down on the accelerator further as he slotted the car into a higher gear. That caused the engine to rev massively, before the supercharger kicked in providing James with another massive burst of speed, one that pushed him back into his seat as the car shot forward.

His Audi was quick to overtake the blue mustang he was racing, providing the blond with a quick smirk as he overtook him before glancing down at the map to see where he was going. Coming up was a left turn, which he would follow into the heart of the city, but the line on his map was completely red, different from the normal blue coloured line he would be following.

"Camille, what does the red line mean?" he asked, dodging around another car, before pulling onto the wrong side of the road to make the left turning coming up slightly easier to make.

"It means that the street is rammed with traffic, and even the street cameras are showing exactly the same thing. It's essentially one block of traffic moving all together"

"Fuck, that mean's it going to be impossible to get through"

"Difficult yes, but not impossible. If you time it right, you should be able to cut up a few cars and make gaps exist." Camille replied, before letting out a chuckle. "Now I can see why he wanted you to drive down these roads, it'll definitely test your skills"

"Thanks for the inspiration" James muttered back, causing her to let out another small chuckle.

"Stop being so moody. Anyway, you only have to make it to the Synthesis building down the main roads. Once you've passed it, I'll redirect you down some small streets. They'll be less direct, but it should make up for it, with the time you save by not waiting in traffic" Camille continued, causing James to nod.

"Thanks for this"

"No worries. I'll keep you updated if anything changes" She finished, as James finally took the left turn down into the city's main street, and much like Camille had said, it was six lanes of block traffic, with three moving towards him, and three moving away. Luckily James was able to get behind one of the faster moving lanes, but he knew that it still wouldn't be enough to get him through here quickly.

What didn't help was the fact that the blond was right on his tail at this point, meaning that he couldn't afford to lose any time and that his decisions had to be made quickly.

Using his deductive skills, James was quick to work out the best viable route for him to take.

The pavement was definitely out of bounds, especially with the amount of people walking down them, all glammed up for nights out. He couldn't afford to cause any injures. A gap appeared between two taxis and he was quick to take it, his Audi quickly filling the space causing a resounded amount of beeping to occur. That caused the blond to take his old place, but the mustang quickly disappeared from sight as he took a gap in between a couple of buses.

"Camille, can you keep a visual on the mustang? In this traffic, it'll be easy for me to lose him" James asked, his response being the sound of typing in his ear.

"Got him. He's currently sat between two buses, the 21 and the 34. Unfortunately, the 21's gonna stop in a minute, meaning it'll pull into a lay by, allowing him to get past it." Camille replied, just as James notice another space emerging to his right.

Revving the engine, James shot diagonally, causing another resounding chorus of horns to occur, one that he just ignored. He didn't need to add more stress to himself right now. "James that bus next to you is the 21. As soon as it pulls over, get into that lane. It'll put you in front of the blond, and you'll have a small stretch of road to get ahead on"

"On it" James replied, glancing out his window to see that the indicator had turned on. As soon as the front wheel of the bus turned to the right, James did exactly, the same thing, essentially keeping parallel to the bus as it pulled over, allowing James to instantly take its place. When the rear of the bus was finally out of the way, James caught the brief moment of glee on the blond's face, before the realisation that James had ahead kicked in on his face. Flashing the blond a smirk in the rear view mirror, James put his foot down a little, allowing him to climb forward about four cars in the traffic jam before he was stuck behind another car again.

"See that massive white building coming up on your right? That's Synthesis. Now, I don't know where this checkpoint is, but that building sits on the end of a block, so as soon as you pass it, I want you to take a right" Camille spoke up in his ear, causing James to nod along with her as his vision kept flicking between the road in front and the blond behind.

The blond's eyes were also trained to the road, with him making occasional glances around in order to find a short cut but every now and again, James noticed how the blond's eyes would meet his. Finally passing the Synthesis building, James followed Camille's instruction, taking the right turn that finally took him off the main roads. The GPS automatically updated, or maybe Camille did that for him, James was unsure, but with the new route plotted, James put his foot down once again, the speedometer quickly climbing.

"Are there roads clear?" he asked, once again hearing the expected shuffling and typing as a response.

"They're clearer, but not completely clear. However, you shouldn't have any difficulty passing any cars like you did in down the main street"

"And the blond? Where's he?"

"He's…completely disappeared"

"Disappeared?" James replied, his voice filled with confusion and astonishment. "How does a car just completely disappear?"

"I'll have to get back to you on that one. Just follow the programmed route, and you'll get to the next checkpoint. I'll keep an eye out for the mustang"

"Thanks Camille, I really appreciate it" James said, the sincerity in his voice clear.

"Don't worry about it partner" Camille replied, causing a smile to form on James' face as he continued to burn through the city of Hyperion Falls.

* * *

By the time James had left the city, it was safe to say that he was slightly paranoid. Ever since he'd lost the blond in the monstrous traffic jam in the city centre, he hadn't been seen. Camille was unable to find him on any of the traffic cameras, and James had stopped no sign on him on the road, so imagine the surprise on James' face when the blond appeared behind him on the ascent to the top of the waterfall.

"Camille, he's back behind me"

"I see him on the cameras, it's like he just reappeared completely" she replied, causing James to nod as the blond came right up behind him, their bumpers only a few inches apart.

"What should I be expecting for this next leg of the race?"

"It's a lot of hairpin bends as you climb up, and it's the same on the way down actually. Again, at the top there's nothing special, no type of marks or anything that would signify a checkpoint. Normally, they have flares lit. It makes it easier for the racers to know where their going, and for the police to find them…although I don't think that's intentional" she rambled in his ear, causing James to let out a little chuckle.

"Thanks for that Camille. Keep me updated if anything changes"

"Will do" she finished, before allowing James to shift his focus back onto the race.

With the first hairpin bend coming up, James was unsure on how tight the corner would be, so he decided to play it safe, sticking to the inside of the bend as he slowed down a little, ready to take it.

Of course, the blond took full advantage of this, and as James slowed down and stuck tight to the corner, the blond went wide, drifting around the outside of both him and the bend before burning off up the straight.

Shaking his head whilst muttering to himself, James followed the blond's lead, shooting off after him for as long as he could, but of course as soon as the next bend approached, James found himself slowing down to take the corner, giving the blond an advantage as he continued to gain a slow, but definitely steady lead.

"Come on James, you can do this. Just drift round the corner" the brunet mumbled to himself, not sure whether Camille caught it or not, but that wasn't this main issue right now.

As the next hairpin bend approached, James found himself swerving the car slightly in the hopes of initiating a weight transfer, like the one he'd performed in the river valley. Gripping a hold of the wheel a little tighter, the brunet found himself taking his foot of the gas before shifting all of the weight to the left side of the car before sharply turning the wheel to the right as the corner began. The back end of the car shot out as expected, almost dragging the front of the car around the corner. As soon as the car was lined up with the straight, he slammed the gas pedal down causing the car to fly forward, using the momentum of the drift to help him go faster.

A massive grin appeared on his face at the successful execution as well as at the fact that he was slowly catching back up to the blond, and when the next bend presented himself, James readied himself to do the same thing again.

From Camille's angle, it looked spectacular, with her witnessing both cars almost perfectly drifting around the bends, and by the time they reached the top of the waterfall, James was so close behind the blond. The grin on his face was apparent, especially to the blond in front of him who kept looking back at James in his rear view mirror, but James' grin turned into a look of astonishment as soon as they both began their descent down the other side of the waterfall.

The brunet hadn't noticed it on the way up, but while driving down, he was forced to gaze upon the beauty of the city from this location. All the buildings were lit up, each displaying a different colour from an eerie red to a baby blue and even some corporate logos were lit up as well. James was astounded by the view and he practically had to peel his eyes away in order to refocus on the race and where he was going.

As the descent continued, he tried his best not to let the view distract him, but it was certainly difficult due to him being forced to gaze upon it by the roads they were taking.

* * *

"This is it, Myriam Street" Camille spoke into James' ear as the brunet finally reached the home stretch of the race.

"Any traffic?" James asked, and he could hear Camille shaking her head.

"Practically none, apart rom a couple of cars. Still, they shouldn't get in your way"

"Perfect" James replied, as he pulled out from behind the blond.

During the entirely of the descent from the waterfall, James was practically bumper to bumper with the blond, but he couldn't find the perfect place to overtake him. Now, on a six lane road with virtually no traffic, James had the perfect opportunity.

The blond must have seen what James was doing, as he tried to pull in front of him, and while it worked for a little while, James was a fast learner, and quickly tricked the blond, manoeuvring right before cutting left, meaning that their cars were practically in line with each other. The two men exchanged a number of glances as each of them pressed their gas pedals down further but both cars were accelerating at the same rate, meaning that the race was going to be tight.

From their position now, James could see the sign that marked the entrance of the Pier, with the roads being completely clear in front of them, meaning that it was now a battle of power rather than skill. The supercharger in James' engine kicked in, allowing his car to gain the lead, with him flashing the blond a flirty grin as he car shot forward but it wasn't enough to keep him in the lead, especially when the blond's car began to catch up.

As the pier approached the two of them were head to head but at the last second, the blond's car began to pull forward ever so slightly. James pushed his gas pedal even further, hoping to fill the short distance, but alas it wasn't enough and as they both crossed the finish line, the blue mustang's bumper crossed it first, with it being a matter of milliseconds different in their times.

Frustrated, James bashed his steering wheel before pressing on the brakes to bring his car to a stop. "God, I was so close! Just not close enough"

"Still, if you haven't wowed him with that, then I don't think anything will do it. You certainly impressed me" Camille replied, causing some of James' frustration to melt away, as a small smile grew on his face.

"Thanks Camille."

"No worries. Now he's getting out, so you best meet him" she finished, causing James to nod.

Turning off the car engine, James took a deep breath, before he popped open this door. This moment would determine how the case when forward, so the brunet could only pray that it would end well.

* * *

 **So there we have it, the race between James and the still unnamed blond 😜 So yeah, James was close but not close enough meaning that he lost again the blond, so you'll have to see what that entails next time!**

 **I want to say a massive thank you to Guest, Winterschild11, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter, which feels like forever ago, but I'm so glad that you all enjoyed it! As you all seemed to pick up on, James does have a lot of baggage and as the story goes on, we'll find out what's gone on in his past to make him move to Hyperion Falls. You all seem to love Camille as well, which I'm super happy about as she's so much fun to write! Don't worry, she's going to play a big part in this story, so you'll be seeing a lot of her!**

 **Anyway, I hope you all had a good Christmas/Holiday and I will see you on Monday for the final chapter of Class Vs Character! But until then,**

 **TTFN 😃🚗**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi guys and welcome back to Rush and Response! So, at the end of the last chapter, James had lost the race to the mysterious blond and now we'll get the conclusion to it!**

* * *

As James stepped out the car, his heart raced due to his anxiety over what would happen next. The blond was so casual in his actions, as he leant against his bonnet once more, and it only made James more worried.

"I suppose congratulations are in order" James stated as he leant against the bonnet of his own car, repeating both what the blond was doing, as well as what he had said yesterday.

"Still, I suppose it was pretty close" the blond replied, finishing off James' statement for him, causing a small blush to grow on James' face. "I have to admit, I thought you had me for a second then, but then I remembered the promise of a kiss, so I knew I had to win" the blond continued, causing James' blush to deepen.

"You weren't joking about that?"

"I don't joke about bets sweet cheeks, so pucker up" the blond answered before suavely pushing himself off of his bonnet and approaching James, whose heart had increased it's beats per minute massively. The grin on the blond's face made it apparent enough that he knew what effect he had on James, and that made the brunet a little more determined not to give in so easily. As the blond approached, James decided to take the initiative, grabbing the blond by his arms in order to pull him in closer, causing the mysterious stranger to gasp at the action.

James' hands snaked around the blond's waist and neck, making the blond tilt his head back in pleasure and when James finally leaned in for the kiss, it was safe to say that the blond was ready for it. A massive grin on his face, he leaned in, not noticing the smug look James had gained, knowing he had the blond exactly where he wanted him.

Leaning in as well, James dodged the blond's lips, pecking him on the cheek before pushing the blond away a little, finally getting some space between them and allowing the brunet to let out the breath he was holding. When the blond finally clocked into what happened, a frown formed on his face, causing James' smug look to grown even further.

"Oh no, hot stuff, I want a proper kiss" the blond protested, but James stayed strong, holding his ground.

"Well, considering how close the race was, I think that was enough. Besides, I don't kiss until the third date, and I think a trip to your garage would make a perfect location for it" James replied, the smirk on his face wide and proud.

"Oh, is that so? You're going to blackmail me with kisses to get into my crew?"

"Well, that all depends on how much I've wowed you already" James flirted back, causing the blond's green eyes to flare with emotion for a brief second, before it was suppressed again.

James could see that the blond was mulling everything over, causing the two of them to lapse into silence as they both stood on the pier, the sound of the waves lapping against the beach and the hum of the city filling the air around them. As the seconds went by, James wondered if he'd pushed a little too far, if all of this would have been for nothing, but luckily the next set of words that came out of the blond's mouth calmed him.

"Kendall" the blond said, causing James to look up at him, quirking his eyebrow. "The name's Kendall and you are?"

"James" James replied, extending his hand for a handshake, one that Kendall was quick to take.

"Nice to meet you James" Kendall replied, causing a grin to grow on James' face. Their handshake seemed to linger at the end, as the two of them stared at each other but it was Kendall who broke it off first after James saw some sort of vulnerability in his green eyes. Kendall cast his eyes down at the floor before glancing back up at James, who noticed that there was now a mask in place. "Anyway, we should get back to my garage. My crew are probably wondering where I am" Kendall stated, causing James to nod, as he smiled towards the brunet.

"Thank you for this" James added, causing Kendall to shrug.

"Don't thank me, this was all you" Kendall replied, flashing James another grin, before turning and getting back into his car. James followed suit, getting back into the Audi and as soon as he placed the earphone into his ear, Camille was talking.

"See, I told you you had nothing to worry about" she said, causing James to shake his head at her words as he watched the blue mustang pull away. James was quick to follow behind, while Camille continued to chat. "We've also managed to get a positive ID on the blond, after you got his name. 'Name: Kendall Knight. Age: 24 Born in Duluth, Minnesota' but that's all we know. He doesn't have a criminal record and we have no indication of when he moved to Hyperion Falls, but the chief wants us to keep digging"

"Alright, thanks for the update" James replied, waiting for the mic to go silent, but instead he could still hear Camille at the other side of it. About a minute went past before she spoke again.

"So, tell me about the kiss" she said, causing James to let out a very audible sigh.

"What? The guy's super cute, and it's clear that he's flirting with you, so come on, tell me! Please please please please.."

"It was nothing, just a peck on the cheek is all" James finally replied, getting irritated by Camille's begging.

"Just a peck on the cheek? Really?"

"Camille, this is a case and I don't have time to be messing around especially with suspects. We need to find out who's committing these murders and that's all I'm here for, nothing more" James snapped, causing the other side of the mic to go quiet for a brief second.

"Alright, sorry." Camille replied, James sensing the hurt in her voice. "When you get to the base, just remember to keep the mics on, so I can catch the names of Kendall's other crew members"

"Will do" James stated, before the earphone went dead, James letting out a sigh. He hadn't meant to snap at Camille like that, but he was there to focus on the case and nothing more. If the case required him to flirt with the blond, then so be it, but it certainly wasn't for any sort of personal gain. James let out a sigh once again.

If that were true, then why was he trying to justify it to himself.

* * *

James tried his best to memorise the way to the Racer's hideout, knowing that he'd probably have to return to this location frequently, but as Kendall led him to a garage, he started to think his efforts were meaningless. 'Stone's Auto Repair' James read as he pulled into the open bay waiting for Kendall and him apparently, with a short brunet waving them both into it. Nerves seemed to rage in James as he pulled in, and when the brunet put his hand up to stop James from pulling any further forward, and the metal door closed behind him, essentially sealing him in, his nerves seemed to rise even further. Still, he told himself to stay calm, as he followed Kendall's lead and turned the car engine off before spinning the key enough to turn the electrics back on. That way, Camille would be able to listen into everything that was being said, relieving some of the pressure on James. Seeing that Kendall was getting out of the car, James was quick to follow suit, making sure the glove box was locked in case any of his new crew members decided to go snooping.

"So, welcome to our garage" Kendall announced, walking over to James, who was currently looking around. "As you can see, it's not a lot, but we work with what we got" Kendall continued, James nodding at his actions. Kendall was definitely right, the place wasn't a lot, but he instantly got a sense of comfort from it. The garage felt homely and comforting, which James thought was strange considering this was an auto repair and also because he didn't get this feeling from his own home. The place reminded James of X's garage, with tires being hung off the walls as well as trolleys filled with car parts and tools for use. This garage however seemed to have five lifts instead of X's three, and there was a lot more room for them to work in, as evidenced by the 4 cars that were scattered about. "Come on, let me give you a tour" Kendall commented, nodding his head as an instruction for James to follow, the brunet quickly doing so. The blond lead them over to one of the cars that was sat around, and it was only when James nearly tripped, that he noticed someone was under one of them. The Latino man emerged with a smile on his face as he chuckled at James' action.

"Woah watch it dude. The last thing we need is for someone to fall and hurt my baby" the Latino man said, patting the car he was working on as he said it.

"James, this is Carlos and he's one of our mechanics" Kendall replied, causing James to extend his hand out to the man.

"Pleasure" James said, causing Carlos to quirk his head slightly before launching into a hug that engulfed James. The man seemed unaware of the grease that he was covered in, but it was safe to say that James was fully aware of its presence.

Finally pulling out of the hug, Carlos turned to Kendall. "So this is the guy you've been constantly talking about huh?"

"It's not constant" Kendall replied, a small blush growing on his face, something that James had never seen before.

"Uh huh, of course not" Carlos replied, smirking at Kendall before turning is attention to James. "We were all watching the race, and you were pretty impressive, keeping up with Kendall like that. I'd love you get under the hood of your motor"

"Carlos, you ask can't such personal things straight away, the guy might like to wait until the second date" A voice emerged from behind Carlos, causing Kendall and James to look up at the source of it, as Carlos rolled his eyes.

"Stop turning everything into something sexual" Carlos replied, spinning around as well.

"James this is Dak, and he's our other mechanic" Kendall explained, causing James to nod again.

"Pleasure" James stated again, causing Dak to let out a little chuckle.

"Carlos is right though, you did seriously well to keep up with Kendall, and I'd love to take a look at your engine as well"

"It's alright when you say it, is it?" Carlos mumbled under his breath, the comment ignored as they continued their conversation.

"Maybe some other time. She's my baby, and I'd hate to show her to you without doing her justice" James responded, trying his best to sound like he loved his car. Sure, he was fond of it, but he wasn't enamoured with it, like these guys seemed to be.

"That's fair I suppose" Carlos replied, before Kendall patted James on the back.

"Come on, there's a couple others I'd like you to meet" the blond said, causing James to nod as he once again followed Kendall's lead through the shop, this time James taking a closer look at some of the cars that was in the garage with them.

He recognised a Golf GTI as well as a Ford Focus, but the rest of the car were only recognisable by the brands, with James recognising Dodge and Chevrolet. Making a mental note to remember those, Kendall lead James to the back of the garage, where the more business side of everything was, with Kendall taking them into the break room first, which was where the brunet James saw earlier was situated.

"James, this is Logan. He's our tech guy"

"Pleasure" James repeated once again, causing the smaller brunet to look up from his computer he was working on.

"Nice going with the race. I was following the both of you on the street cameras, and you both did really well. I've got your times here if you want them?"

"Nah, I think we're good" Kendall replied, before James spoke up.

"Wait, you were following us on the street cameras?"

"Yeah, that's what Kendall meant when he said checkpoints, it was the cameras in those two locations" Logan replied, causing James to quirk an eyebrow at him.

"How'd you get into them. I mean, those things must be like behind a lot of encryption" James continued, causing Logan to gain a smug look.

"Anything's possible when you're a genius. I've also managed to run a background check on you"

"Logan" Kendall scolded, causing the brunet to let out a little chuckle.

"Don't worry, you're all clear" Logan replied, causing James to let out the breath he didn't realise he was holding, thankful that the guys at the station as well as the FBI had done their job properly. It was safe to say that they weren't expecting someone like this. "Anyway, I'm guessing you haven't met Lucy yet, so I'll let you get to that"

"Thanks" Kendall replied, nodding Logan's way before turning to James and nodding his head towards the exit. Once again, James followed Kendall's lead as they made their way to the main office of the building. Instead of walking straight in, like Kendall did to the break room, he knocked on the door twice and waiting for the muffled 'come in' to sound out before he opened the door. This time James was greeted by a woman, her most noticeable feature being her hair with was black with red streaks running through this.

"James, this is Lucy. She owns the garage" Kendall said, causing James to extend his hand for a handshake once again.

"Pleasure" James said for the fourth time, causing Kendall to let out a chuckle next to him at James repetition.

"Please, the pleasure is all mine. I've heard quite a lot about you from Kendall" Lucy replied, James looking over at the blond who was blushing again. "He's told me all about how much of a brilliant racer you are"

"Lucy's also a racer" Kendall clarified, causing Lucy to nod, finally letting go of James' hand.

"That I am, and like Kendall said, I also own the garage. I named it after myself an everything" she joked, James letting out a chuckle. "So, if you ever need anything, just come in and help yourself. The garage is always open, and I'm always happy to help out a friend"

"That's generous, thanks" James replied, causing Lucy to flash him a smile.

"Anyway, I have to expense reports to file, so I best get back to it."

"See ya Lucy" Kendall added, causing the woman to wave before she shut the door on the two of them. As soon as that was done, Kendall turned to James again. "Don't let her fool you James. She acts all nice now, saying that you can take whatever, but trust me, she always collects. Be wary of her" Kendall continued, his face completely serious, causing James to let out a deep breath, slightly frightened.

Of course, as soon as that happened, Kendall burst into laughter. "God, I so got you" the blond said, causing James to shake his head at the antics of the blond. Still, he couldn't help the smile that grew on his face. As Kendall finished up laughing, he started talking once again. "So that's everyone. We're a ragtag group but we get on great together. We're like one big family" That's caused James' heart to ache at the thought, but he tried not to let it show on his face, maintaining his small smile.

"So what now? What happens?" James asked, trying to get off the subject of family, and luckily, Kendall followed his lead.

"We race" Kendall replied with a shrug causing James to raise an eyebrow at him.

"That's it?"

"Yeah, really. Logan tends to pick up messages during about street races that are going down that night, and he sends an alert to us all. Oh, that reminds me, I'll need your number" Kendall added, a small smirk growing on his face as the blond knew exactly what he was doing.

James had also picked up on the meaning, yet for some reason, the thought of giving Kendall his phone number was making him nervous. James put it down to the mission, but he knew at the back of his mind that that wasn't the case at all. Reaching into his back pocket, he grabbed his phone before passing it to the blond.

"So as I was saying, I've added you into the group chat so you'll see when Logan posts alerts about races going on. We then decide whether the cash prize is worth it or not and if it is, we go for it. We all decide on who's gonna race, and if they win, we all split the cash at the end" Kendall finished, causing James to nod as he took his phone back from the blond. As he did that, James caught a glimpse of the emotions that were swirling in the blond's eye, and one that he seemed to pick up on was sorrow.

Deciding to question it, James asked. "You don't seem too happy about it all"

That caused Kendall to shrug. "It is what it is. We all have reasons to be here" he replied and while wanted to question it, from the look on the blond's face, it probably wasn't best to question it. "Anyway, we're done here so you can do whatever. If you wanna chill with us, you're happy to do so but I also understand if you have work early. I know what it's like starting out and having no money"

Again, James sensed a hidden meaning behind the words, but he knew better than to push it at this stage. He hardly knew the guy. "Yeah, I best be off" James replied, causing Kendall to nod. "Thank you for today, and thanks for letting me into your crew. You all seemed like nice guys"

"Don't worry about it. I'll see you around?" Kendall asked, causing James to nod.

"That you will" the brunet replied, before making his way back to the Audi, a smile on his face that the mission had been successful.

* * *

As soon as James had pulled out of the garage, the earphone was in.

"Camille?" he asked, causing him to hear a little bit of shuffling before her voice appeared.

"I'm here"

"Would be you able to get Chief on the line as well?" James asked, again resulting in more shuffling before he heard a quick tone.

"Gustavo here" the chief said, causing a smile to grow on James' face.

"I'm in sir. Kendall took me back to his garage, Stone Auto Repair and he introduced me to the rest of his crew"

"I've got all there names recorded and I'm running them through the system. We'll need you to come in and verify that we've found the right people" Camille added, causing James to nod.

"I'm on my way"

"What else have you discovered?" Gustavo asked, as James turned left down one of the main streets.

"One of their guys seems to be a tech genius, Logan. He was following us on the street cameras, and he ran a background check on me as well"

"Good thing we scrubbed your history" Gustavo said, causing James to nod once again.

"Yeah, and I've also been added to a group chat which race alerts are posted into. Should be helpful in finding and closing them down."

"I've tapped into the group chat, but it might look suspicious if the police turn up to them all as soon as you've joined."

"Roberts makes a good point" Gustavo interrupted, James now turning right. "We'll head to a few of the locations when they're posted, but we'll have to make it look right. Any other news."

"From what I could tell, Kendall didn't seem like he was too happy about racing, and he kept dropping hints about 'them all having a reason to be there' as well as having no money. It might be nothing though."

"Alright, keep an ear out in case he drops any more hints. There might be something that we're missing" Gustavo concluded before a voice came over James' radio from Gustavo's end.

"Chief we had a 10-33 on the Mason Highway, it was another car crash sir, but the paramedics are saying that the driver is still alive. He's being taking to County General" The voice spoke, James already knowing what his next order would be and by the looks of it, so did Camille.

Low and behold, Gustavo said "James" causing the brunet to nod.

"I'm already on it, sir" James replied, glancing down at the map which was already programmed for County General Hospital.

* * *

 **So there we have it! James is officially apart of Kendall's crew and he met the rest of them, introducing Carlos, Dak, Lucy and Logan! We then had a little bit of insight into what was going to come, both in the next chapter and in the future! We also had James trying to convince himself that this is all for the case, I wonder how well that is going to go... Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it!**

 **I want to give a massive thank you to Guest, Winterschild11 and RainbowDiamonds for reviewing the last chapter, and I'm so glad you enjoyed it! You all seem to be loving the banter between everyone, and trust me, there is more of that to come. And don't worry, the Kames will start up again soon.**

 **I will see you all on Monday for the next chapter of Blizzard but until then,**

 **TTFN 😃🚗**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi Guys and welcome back to Rush & Response! I'm so excited to get this chapter out to you, so let's crack on with it shall we?**

* * *

James practically abandoned his car when he arrived at the hospital, knowing that this survivor was the most important thing to the case at the moment. The police had very little information on these murders, hence the reason James was undercover in the first place, but if they were lucky, the driver might have saw something that would be helpful. Maybe it was just the type of car, or maybe it was a few letters on the registration plate, but anything would be useful at this point. Running in through the doors of the hospital, James headed to the front desk, essentially pushing past everyone that was waiting to be seen. The young girl that was operating it seemed to be engrossed in her computer as James stepped up, causing him to tap on the desk a couple of times.

 _'What is it with receptionists in this city?_ James thought to himself, but he didn't get to preoccupied with it, especially when the girl finally looked up at him after what felt like a minute of tapping.

"What floor is the survivor of the car crash on Mason Highway on?" James asked, rather bluntly, causing the receptionist to roll her eyes slightly.

"Sir, we're not allowed you give out sensitive information such as that" she replied, causing James to let out a throaty groan as he reached into his pocket, pulling out both his badge and his wallet.

"I'm here on official business" was all the brunet said, causing the girl's eyes to widen quite dramatically.

"I'm so sorry sir, I'll find out right now for you" she said, causing James to nod as he slotted his badge and wallet back into his pocket. The brunet hadn't thought about it at the time, but looking back on it now, he realised that any one of these people could street racers and that could complicate things in the future. On the other hand, however, the badge and ID were only show to the receptionist, so maybe he was ok. He was shaken out of his thought process however when the receptionist spoke to him once again. "He's been taken into surgery on the third floor, so I would suggest heading up there. I can arrange for the paramedics that brought him here to meet with you if you wish."

"That sounds brilliant. I'll head up to the third floor now" James replied, causing the girl to nod once more before James walked off.

After a quick glance to find the lift, James made his way over there, hoping the condition of the driver wasn't too serious, especially if he was in surgery. Still, the brunet tried to maintain some assemblage of positive as he travelled up the three floors of the hospital, not thinking about how this could make or break the case entirely. Finally, when the lift arrived, the brunet was quick to rush out of it, barging past a few more people until he arrived in the waiting room, where he could clearly see the paramedic waiting for him. The mannerisms of the guy seemed slightly nervous and that certainly didn't help settle James' fears, but knowing it was probably better to go over and talk to the guy, James made his way over.

"Detective James Diamond, I'm here about the car crash incident" James introduced himself to the guy, extending his hand for a handshake, one the guy was quick to return. The paramedic was a little shorter than James, and his hair was a jet black colour. Still, James tried not to mention the paramedic's deep blue eyes as he spoke.

"I'm Dylan Elliot. I was the first responder on the seen" Dylan replied, flashing James a small smile which helped ease some of his nerves.

"I was wondering if you'd be willing to answer a few questions for me. Any information that you'd be able to give would be really helpful."

"Of course, I'll try" Dylan answered, causing James to let out a little chuckle.

"So, firstly, what is the driver suffering from?"

"Um, from what I could tell, he's got a few broken ribs and a broken arm. We had to secure his neck, so possible neck and spine injury. He also had a laceration down the left side of his face, most likely from where he slammed into the window. There's also the possibly of internal bleeding"

"So, how long do you think he's likely to be in surgery for?"

"At least a good few hours if we assume the best" Dylan replied, causing James to nod as he made notes of what was said on his phone.

"Thank you. I was also wondering if anyone else was in the car?"

"Yeah, there was one other passenger. Unfortunately, he was already dead by the time we reached the scene."

"And were you able to identify him?"

"It was councilman Richards. Roy Richards that is" Dylan replied, causing James to nod as he jotted it down. It definitely went with the wealthy and influential theme that was running through these crimes.

"What do you know of Roy Richards? It seems you were able to identify him pretty quickly" James asked, causing Dylan to let out a little shrug.

"His face was plastered all over the city about a year ago. He's one of the newer Council men that was just voted in. He seemed to rise from nowhere. One minute, no one knew who he was, and the next, he was everywhere, on billboards, on adverts and he even did a few interviews for the TV and the radio. I didn't really agree with many of his policies, but people must have done for him to rise to fame so quickly."

"Perfect, anything else?"

"Not that I can think off" Dylan replied, before the radio strapped to his uniform began to beep. "Sorry, I have to take this, but um…maybe I could take your number? That way if I think of anything else, I'll be able to drop you a text or give you a call?" Dylan asked, James completely missing the obvious statement of the question as he reached into his pocket.

"Here, take my card, and thanks for you help Dylan."

"No worries, and good luck with the case" Dylan replied before his radio beeped again, causing the paramedic to break into a little jog as he headed for the lift.

Knowing he'd have to wait hours for any news, James let out a sigh as he walked towards the waiting area. Still, the information he'd been given would definitely be useful to the case. Taking a seat in one of the blue plastic chairs that seemed to fill the waiting room, James pulled out his phone from his pocket, and put through a call to Camille, which was picked up on the second ring.

"Any news?" she asked, causing James to let out a sigh as he rubbed his forehead.

"The driver's in surgery at the moment, and from what the paramedic I spoke too said, he'll be in there for a while. I'm sat waiting now" He began, slouching slightly in his seat. "Also, I managed to get an ID on the passenger, the name of Roy Richards. Apparently, he was a councilman"

"I remember him. He was everyone for a short while, all over the news and everything" Camille replied, relaying the same information that the paramedic had told him.

"Well, he definitely fits the description of wealthy and influential. Anything on your end?" he asked, receiving a short burst of typing before Camille responded.

"It was certainly the same set of tires that has been used in the other murders, and we got the identification of Roy Richards as well. Other than that, not a lot, only that the car is a seriously bad condition so the guy who did this seemed to know what he was doing" Camille finished, causing James to nod as he rubbed chin and neck a couple of times.

"This is definitely interesting. The murder of a guy who seemed to rise from nowhere. The real question is why him?" James asked, causing Camille to let out a sigh.

"I don't know, but I'll get on it, try to dig up any information we have on the guy. If it's what we suspect, then there must be some connection between him and the Crime boss."

"Thanks Camille. You're a real help" James replied, and he could practically hear the smile form on Camille's face.

"No worries partner. I'll keep you apprised if we get any new information" She said, James nodding once more before the phone cut off in his ear, leaving him practically alone in the hospital waiting room.

As the brunet sat there waiting, he remembered the feeling all too well, and glancing around at the few people that occupied the room with him, he knew the torture of waiting for the news to finally arrive.

* * *

It was about 5 hours later when a doctor finally approached James again, the brunet half asleep as he sat there in the chair. "Detective Diamond?" The woman asked, causing James to shake himself awake as he stood up.

"Yeah, that's me" James replied, causing a small smile to grow on the woman's face at the state James was in.

"I just thought I'd let you know that Mr Stevens is awake, and that it's ok for you to go in and ask a few questions."

"Perfect. If you don't mind me asking, how bad were his injuries?" the brunet asked, as the doctor let you a little yawn.

 _'Seems like she's not used to the night shift either'_ James thought before the woman spoke.

"He was very lucky. He broke 3 of his ribs, his left arm and had a laceration down the side of his face. The airbags seemed to do their job quite well, so apart from some whiplash, he shouldn't have any neck or spine injuries. Like I said, he was very lucky" she doctor replied, causing James to nod as he made a couple more notes on his phone.

"Thanks Doc."

"No worries detective. He's in room 312 when you're ready" she replied before walking away.

With a new found energy, probably from the short nap he had, James was ready to find out what the driver knew.

* * *

It wasn't difficult for James to find the driver's room, with the hospital having signs everywhere to guide him to where he needed to be and when James approached the room, he saw how the driver was sat up in the bed watch some TV. James politely knocked on the door, causing the driver to look over at him.

"Hi, I'm Detective Diamond" James said, flashing his badge and ID to the driver. "I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions about the crash? It'll only take a few minutes"

"Um, yeah, of course" The driver replied, causing a small smile to grow on James' face as he walked into the room and took a seat on the chair that was right next to the driver's bed. Phone at the ready, James started asking his questions.

"So firstly, can I have your name?"

"Harry Stevens" the driver replied, causing James to nod.

"And would you be able to tell me what happened from your perspective" James asked, and that caused the driver to tense up slightly. "I'm sorry, I know this is difficult, but any information you'd be able to give us would be massively appreciated" James added, causing Harry to nod slightly as he took a deep breath.

"So Mr Richards decided to stay late in order to get his work done, and like usual, when he was finished I got a phone call asking if I could pick him up. When I arrived at City Hall, the looked like he was on edge, almost looking around to see if someone was watching him so I asked him if he was ok. He told me that he was fine, but that he really wanted to just get home, so I didn't question him further as we pulled off and started our journey. As we were driving through the streets of the city, I remember seeing this car in my rear view mirror a couple of times, but I didn't think anything of it at the time."

"Do you recall what car it was?" James asked, as he typed away into his phone.

"I do, it was a dodge challenger" The driver replied, causing James to grin slightly as he inputted the information into his phone, finally having some sort of lead.

"Sorry, please continue" James added, causing the driver to nod.

"So like I said, I didn't think anything of it at the time and I continued to follow my usual route to take Mr Richards home, so I pulled onto the Mason Highway. The road wasn't very busy, and I remember glancing into my rear view mirror once again seeing that the car had pulled up onto the highway with us. That's when the car started to make a few threatening moves. I remember it pulling right up behind us, the engine revving really loudly before it rammed into the back of the car a couple of times. Of course, I sped up in the hopes of trying to get away from it, but it was able to keep up. That's when it pulled up to the right of us and the driver rammed into the right rear fender. The first time, our car swerved a little bit but I was able to get it under control but the second time, the car came at us with a little more force, causing our back end to spin out. I remember looking to my right, seeing the challenger heading straight for us, and before I knew it, our car was rolling. The airbags had deployed as soon as the challenger T-boned us, but Mr Richards wasn't wearing his seat belt. The last thing I remember is watching the back of the challenger drive away" Harry finishes, causing James to nod as he continued to make a few notes on his phone.

"Thank you so much for your cooperation. I promise I just have a few more questions" the brunet replied, setting the driver at ease slightly. "So, do you remember what colour the car was? Or any detail about it?" James asked, causing the driver to shake his head.

"No, sorry. Like I said, I didn't really pay attention to it in the city, and on the highway, it was too dimly lit to make anything out" the driver replied, causing James to nod.

"And can you think of any reason why you or Mr Richards may have been targeted?" James asked, and this time the driver paled slightly before swallowing a lump in his throat. Two give away signs that he knew something. "Any information that would can provide will be extremely useful in helping us find out what happened here and for us to provide justice for Mr Richards and anyone else who's died." James continued, causing the driver to nod slightly.

"Mr Richards got some help with funding his campaign. I don't know a lot, but from what I could gather from small snippets of conversations, Mr Richard had a deal with the city's Crime Boss, something along the lines of if Mr Richards got into power, then the Crime Boss would have a little more freedom. But when Mr Richards got into power, I don't think he was able to put in place what he had said he would."

"And do you know if we could get any evidence for this?" James asked, causing the driver to shake his head. "

I don't sorry." The driver replied, causing James to feel a little disheartened.

"No worries, you've been massively helpful anyway. I'll let you rest now Mr Stevens, and thank you once again for your help" James said, causing the driver to nod once more before the brunet left the room, the first thing the brunet did being placing a call to Camille.

"Roberts here, and the captain's also on the line. Any information?" she asked, causing James to nod, not that she could see.

"I do, but I don't feel comfortable relaying it over the phone. I'm heading back to the station"

"Sounds good detective. Come straight into my office when you arrive" Gustavo said, as James pressed the button on the lift.

"Will do Captain" James replied, before the phone went dead in his ear.

As James scrolled through the notes that had been made, and he couldn't help the small grin he gained when he realised that he'd gotten quite a lot of information.

* * *

Pulling into the underground car park of the station, James was rather grateful that he wouldn't have to pass the receptionist of the building again. He didn't want to deal with Jo and her leering eyes at the moment, but he groaned at the fact that he'd probably have to deal with Jett again. The lift ride up was pretty swift, and when the doors opened, he was certainly pleased to see that Jett was nowhere to be seem. As quickly as he could, James made his way over to Gustavo's office, and with two knocks on the door, he walked in like Gustavo had said.

"Detective" Gustavo nodded, gesturing to the empty chair opposite his desk, right next to Camille. "So, what was the driver able to tell you?" Gustavo asked, causing James to load up his phone, as he began to read off the notes. Camille and Gustavo took massive interest in what the brunet was saying, smiles growing on their faces as well at the new information. "Great work detective" Gustavo complimented when James had finished talking. "And we now how a link to the Crime Boss as well."

"I've already sent a tip to our computer team to try and get into Richards' bank account. Hopefully they'll be able to find some trace of the money Steven's was talking about" Camille added, causing both James and Gustavo to nod.

"And I hate to ask, but what type of car is a Dodge Challenger?" James asked, causing Camille to place her laptop up onto Gustavo's desk with a picture of the car in question. That caused James' lips to go dry as he stared at the photo. "I saw one of those in Stone's garage" the brunet admitted causing both Camille and Gustavo to look over at him.

"You're sure?" Gustavo asked, causing James to nod.

"Yeah, I remember glancing at it. I was able to make out that the car was a Dodge, but I didn't know what type it was at the time. I'm certain it was one of those" James replied, causing the room to fall silent for a second.

"It would make sense" Camille finally said, breaking the silence as the two of them looked over at her. "Think about it. With Kendall's vague mention of having no money, and having a reason to be there, it fits. Maybe the blond had to borrow money just like Richards did, and this is how he's paying off his debt" she continued, causing Gustavo to nod along with her. James couldn't fault her logic, as it certainly wouldn't be a massive leap to make but there was something in his gut that didn't feel right about it.

"I don't know. I mean, I've met these guys and they don't seem like the type" James said, causing Gustavo to raise an eyebrow at him as if to question what he was saying. "Something just doesn't sit right with it. My gut's saying we're missing something"

"Still, it's enough evidence for us to gain a search warrant. We could go in and see what evidence we could gain."

"But that would give away this whole operation. If I've just turned up and the police arrive, it's going to raise all sorts of suspicion. I think we should continue like usual. That way, I'll be able to get solid proof that it is or isn't Kendall and his crew that are committing the murders" James reasoned, causing Gustavo and Camille to glance over at each other briefly.

"You're sure you can do this?" Gustavo asked, causing James to nod confidently, despite the fact that the brunet didn't feel that way about this at all. "Alright then. But, if we're going to continue like this, it'll have to be quickly. I want this stopped before another murder takes place." Gustavo ordered, causing James to nod.

"You've got it captain." James replied, knowing that this case was about to get a whole lot tougher for him.

* * *

 **So there we have it! We found out whats happening with all of the murders in the city, and we even have a link to Kendall and the garage! James' task is definitely going to get a little more interesting!**

 **I want to say a massive thank you to Guest, Winterschild11, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter and I'm so glad you liked it! You all seem to love the group of Misfits that I introduced in the last chapter, especially Carlos and as RainbowDiamonds picked up on, Kendall seems to be hiding something! But I'm also glad that you loved the Kames!**

 **Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I will see you all on Monday for the next chapter of Blizzard, but until then,**

 **TTFN 😃🚗**

 **Oh, and I'm glad you like the car emoji 😜**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi Guys and welcome back to Rush & Response! Right, let's crack on with this shall we?**

* * *

As James drove to Stone's Auto Repair the next night, Camille was in his ear chatting away as usual. However, James noticed how this time, she tended to avoid some more of the personal topics in James' life, and while he didn't want to admit it, he seemed to miss the teasing a little bit. When they hit a lull in the conversation, James spoke up again.

"Camille, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for snapping at you the other day" he said, and he could hear her shrug on the other side of the mic.

"It's fine."

"No, it's not. I was rude and sharp, and I am really sorry. It's just, I haven't had the best history in terms of a love life, and with his being a case, and Kendall being a suspect, I can't afford to forget." James continued, causing Camille to go silent on the other side of the mic for a few seconds.

"Ok, I respect that. I'll lay off a little with it" She replied, causing a small smile to grow on James' face.

"Thanks partner" James said, causing her to let out a little chuckle

"No worries partner" she replied, just as James pulled up to the garage doors and pressing on the horn. "Remember, keep the mics on so I can catch what's being said"

"Will do" James replied, watching as the garage doors opened in front of him, revealing Carlos who was opened it for me. Carlos smiled and gave James a small wave as the brunet pulled in, causing James to nod his head back to him as he shut off the car, before loading the electrics one again. Making sure the glove box was locked, James finally opened the door, glancing around.

"Hey James" Carlos said as he made his way over to the GTI.

"Hey Carlos. Where is everyone?" James asked, causing Carlos to let out a shrug.

"Logan's in the breakroom like usual, and Kendall's in the office with Lucy. I think Dak's working on one of the cars in the back, while I do this one" Carlos replied, James suspicions growing ever so slightly.

"Oh yeah? What car's he working on? I glanced round at them the other day, and you seem to have a pretty impressive collection" James said, causing Carlos to blush ever so slightly as he shrugged.

"We get by. And he's working on the challenger, it's a little banged up. Logan doesn't know how to drift, so we're trying to teach him. He managed to crash it into a street sign" Carlos chuckled, James having to force out a laugh to match, while he suspicion continued to rise. Still, despite all of this, there was a small voice in the back of his head that was telling him this was all too easy, and while James wanted to agree with it, he knew he needed to be objective in need to catch the murders.

"That's a shame" James replied, as the two's laughter finished up.

"So what are you up to?" Carlos asked, causing James to shrug.

"Oh, I thought I'd come and get to know everyone. I didn't really get a chance to properly talk to everyone last night, so I thought I'd come back today and chat to you all"

"Seems like a good idea. You know what they say, a close team is a good team"

"So what you working on anyway?" James asked, causing Carlos to pat the Golf next to him.

"I've just changed the timing belt. It was causing the engine to misfire, and causing a ticking sound to come from the engine. If you don't mind, can you turn it over for me?" Carlos replied, causing James to nod as he popped open the car door. Carlos stood over the engine, watching to see if everything was ok as James turned the key in the ignition, and on the first try the car came to life, causing a massive smile to grow on Carlos' face.

"Nice going" James congratulated as the engine purred, causing Carlos to shrug slightly whilst grinning.

"Thanks. At least that's one last thing to worry about" he replied, before they heard footsteps coming into the room. Turning off the engine, whilst Carlos shut the bonnet, the two of them turned to see Logan walking into the room, with Lucy and Kendall on his tail. James couldn't help but be slightly nervous as they approached, but his nerves seemed to settle when Kendall flashed him a small smile.

"Hey, James, I didn't know you were gonna be in tonight" the blond said, causing James to shrug slightly.

"I thought I'd stop by and get to know everyone a little better. I was just helping Carlos finish sorting out this car" James replied, causing the Latino to playfully roll his eyes, knowing James had actually done very little.

"Hey, so what's news that so important?" Dak asked as he wiped his forehead on a cloth he was holding, causing Carlos and James to raise their eyebrows.

"News?" James asked, causing Logan, Kendall and Lucy to nod.

"There's a race later" Logan replied, spinning his laptop around to that everyone could see the screen. "It's a short race, only a few laps around a block but's there's a moderate cash prize for it. It's not a lot, but for what we're racing, it seems like a no brainer" he continued, as James looked at the screen. Logan wasn't wrong, it looked like the organisers were offering $12,500 for three laps around a small block.

"I'm game for it. It's some easy cash and it'd go along way around here. I'd be happy to do it" Kendall replied, causing Dak to shrug.

"I also haven't raced in a while, so I'd be down for doing it as well. I know racing you're department, but you've driven quite a lot recently, so you deserve a break" Dak commented, but before Kendall could reply, Lucy spoke up.

"Why doesn't James do it?" she said, causing James to raise an eyebrow at her.

"Me?"

"Yeah. I mean, it'd give you the chance to race against someone who isn't Kendall, providing some good practice. Plus, it'll be useful to prepare you for the Waterway Rivalries event coming up?"

"Waterway Rivalries?" James asked, but his question was ignored as Logan spoke up.

"I think it's a good idea. Plus, it would all give us a chance to witness you racing first hand instead of through street cameras."

"All in favour of James racing, raise your hand" Lucy said, causing all of them but James to raise their hands.

Sighing in defeat, James found himself raising his hand, causing Carlos to pat him on the back as he spoke. "This'll be good for you. Not everyone is as gentle as Kendall when they race"

"Hey I'm not gentle! I'm just cautious" Kendall protested, causing everyone to chuckle slightly.

"Still, there are some racers out there who like to think that cars are just larger versions of bumper cars, so you'll have to practice how to race with those type" Carlos commented, causing James to shrug.

"I guess it is what I signed up for" he joked, causing them all to let out a chuckle.

"The race starts in 15, so we best get a move on" Logan added, causing Lucy to gently roll her eyes.

"Alright then. Kendall, you'll ride with James, Logan with Carlos and Dak, you'll ride with me" she ordered, causing James' anxiety to rise.

"Wait, we're car sharing?" he asked, causing Kendall to nod.

"Yeah, that way there's less cars on the road, so we won't draw attention to ourselves. The last thing we need is the police catching wind of this." He joked, causing James to chuckle along with them.

Little did they know that the police more certainly had.

"Alright then, let's saddle up!" Lucy commanded, clapping her hands as if to get everyone moving. James noticed how Kendall rolled his eyes at the girl, causing a smirk to grow on his face as the two of them made their way to the Audi, James' nerves simmering below nervous breakdown level.

This is the closest James had been to blowing his cover, and he really didn't need that to happen.

* * *

"Oh, this is fancy" Kendall said as he stepped into the passenger side of James' car, causing the brunet to shrug, trying his hardest to remain calm.

"Thanks"

"And what's the earphone for?" Kendall questioned, as he clipped his seat belt into place while James started the engine.

"Oh, it's to…um…help me hear the radio over the stuff. The engine's rather loud so I use it to listen to traffic reports and stuff more clearly" James replied, revving the engine slightly as if to prove his point, Kendall chuckling at the action.

"Yeah, I get that. Would be helpful in my Mustang if I'm being honest. That car's got some guts" the blond replied, James reversing out of the garage, waiting until Carlos pulled out so James could follow him to the location.

"I know from first-hand experience that it has" James joked, causing a smug look to grow on Kendall's face.

"Please, you haven't seen anything yet" the blond smirked, causing James to playfully roll his eyes, watching as Carlos pulled out in the GTI. As the Latino pulled out onto the main road, James followed, with Kendall sparking up conversation again. "So, how's your day been? Filled with work?" he joked, causing James to shrug as he turned left onto a main road.

"Not really. I'm in between jobs at the moment, so I'm not doing a lot. It's been filled with a lot of me searching the internet for vacancies that suit my skills."

"I know the feeling. It's difficult to find a job in this city, especially with its prestigious reputation during the day"

"So, you're looking for a job as well?"

"No, I actually work as a waiter at a small restaurant, it's not a lot but it pays the bills. It's not the glamorous life I imagined for myself, but then I suppose that's my own fault" Kendall commented with a chuckle, causing James to look over at the blond, slightly curious.

"Why's that?" he asked, causing Kendall to shrug.

"Well, I wasn't necessarily the brightest kid in school, and I didn't really put the effort in. It was kinda difficult for me to focus on anything after my mum died, and we were moved into an orphanage"

"Oh, I'm so sorry" James replied, removing one hand from the wheel so that he could place a hand onto Kendall's thigh in order to comfort the blond.

"No, it's fine, it was a few years ago now, and I'm used to talking about it. Plus, it's not your fault, you didn't know" Kendall replied, placing his hand over James' with a small sad smile on his face. James couldn't help the tingling feeling that seemed to spread up his arm, but he tried his best to ignore it as he drove. "Anyway, I've told you about me, so let's talk about you" the blond continued, causing a frown to grow on James' face as he let out a little sigh. "You don't seem too happy about that"

"I don't really like talking about myself." James replied, noticing how Kendall's thumb was now rubbing James' hand. It wasn't in a provocative way, but more of a comforting sense, and it definitely helped James calm down slightly.

"Don't worry, it's nothing deep, it'll just be a few questions. If anything, I'm mostly curious to know why you moved here from NYC. I'd love to live there" Kendall reassured him, but of course, the mention of New York City only put James on edge more as he looked at the blond with a raised eyebrow.

"How'd you know that?".

"Logan's background check" Kendall shrugged, James' anxiety rising massively whilst he tried to keep the facade of staying calm. "So, you'd you move?"

"I needed a change of scenery. That's all. I'd live there for all of my life, so I thought it's about time I got out" James stated, sounding like this was rehearsed, something that caught Kendall's attention.

However, when Kendall looked over at the brunet, he noticed how James' eyes were trained to the road, his posture a little tense, giving Kendall enough information to know that James really didn't want to talk about it.

"That's fair I suppose, and I know what you mean. It was a similar thing for me when I moved out here from Minnesota, it was something new and exciting. Still, I bet you were a good kid at school" Kendall chuckled, James silently thanking Kendall for going off topic.

"Oh, I was a total nerd." James joked, causing Kendall to look over at James with wide eyes.

"Really, I always thought of you more as the jock type. Wanting to play football or baseball."

"So, you've thought about me" James quirked his eyebrow, causing Kendall to blush due to him being caught off guard. "And no, I was a total geek, glasses and all. My homework was always in on time and it was always up to the best standard" he continued, causing Kendall to chuckle along with him as James spoke.

"And yet, here we are. The nerd and the misfit sharing a car together. It's funny how life works out huh?" Kendall joked, causing James to become slightly sombre.

"Yeah, funny" he replied, his eyes casting down to his lap slightly as he thought about all the events that got him to this situation.

* * *

When they finally pulled up to the race location, it seemed that there were three other drivers already lined up and waiting. As their little convey of vehicles pulled in, Carlos pulled off to the side, while Kendall directed James in line with the rest of the other vehicles.

"Don't worry about anything, I'm sure you'll be fine. Just go your best and we'll see what the outcome is" Kendall said, James casting him a small smile before the blond made his way out of the car, joining the rest of the gang on the side lines.

Before he had a chance to speak to anyone, a guy with a white and black chequered flag walked out in front of the cars, before giving instructions. Kendall was half paying attention as the guy spoke, listening to the fact, much like Logan have said, that it was a three lap race around the block and the first one to make it over the finish line won $12,500 dollars before he began his countdown down from three.

"How's he feeling about it?" Kendall heard Lucy ask, causing him to shrug.

"He's a little nervous but he'll be fine. I mean, he held his own against me, so I don't think we have to worry" Kendall replied, causing her to nod slightly before the guy shouted 'GO!' while waving the flag into the air, causing all four racers to speed off of the finish line. James was quick to take the lead, causing a small smile to grow on Kendall's face before the blond began to think back to the conversation that he'd had with James in the car.

Kendall never really spoke about his mother's death, and when he did, it was only to people that he completely trusted, so why did he feel so comfortable sharing the information with James? He just seemed to get a comforting vibe from the brunet, almost like James was meant to protect people when things went wrong, and that was certainly the case when James placed his hand onto the blond's thigh.

At first, Kendall seemed to receive an electric shock from the contact, before a sort of tingling feeling seemed to spread around his body, causing Kendall's whole body to almost come alive. Never in the blond's life had he experienced that from physical contact, something he'd had a moderate amount of experience with, so the sensation was entirely new for him.

This whole situation was slightly strange to Kendall, and the blond couldn't quite seem to piece together why. If James was right about what he said, with him being a total nerd at school and all that, then how he'd end up street racing like the rest of them? _'Don't be so judgemental Kendall. Anyone could end up in the same position you are, no matter how smart they are. It's not a matter of wits'_ His brain supplied, causing the blond to shrug slightly. He was right, what befell him could befall anyone, no matter their academic prowess.

The blond was snapped out of his thought process when everyone around him erupted into cheers, and when he glanced over to the finish line, James' Audi was just passing over it, completely victorious in the race. _'How long was I in my head for?'_ Kendall thought to himself, but he quickly shook the feeling away when he saw James pulling over towards them.

As soon as the Audi had stopped, everyone seemed to crowd around the car, showering James in praise as the door opened.

"Dude, that was amazing! You totally whipped their asses!" Dak said as James stepped out the car, balling his hand into a fist, before offering it to James as a fist bump. The brunet seemed slightly confused at first before he reciprocated the gesture as everyone continued to speak to him. "Seriously, you need to let us under the hood! I have to see what's driving this baby"

"Maybe some day" James replied, before the guy who announced the race walked over to them, a clear brief case in hand.

"I believe this belongs to you. Well done dude you earned this" the guy said, causing James to thank him as he took the brief case into his hand. Once the guy had walked away, James placed the briefcase down onto the bonnet as he glanced through the case, witnessing for the first time what this amount of money looked like in cash.

"We'll count it when we get back to the garage. Then we'll split it into six equal pieces like we said" Logan said, causing them all to nod.

"Split my share between yourselves" James spoke up, causing everyone to glance at him with their eyebrows raised.

"Really? You're the one that earned this, so you should get a share" Kendall said, causing James to shrug as he turned to the group, his eyes glancing to the blond.

"Seriously, you guys would benefit from it more" James replied, a softness reaching his eyes as he looked at Kendall, causing the blond to flash him a sympathetic smile.

It was at that moment, that the thought's James once had about the blond began to slowly work their way back into his mind, and no amount of James telling himself that it was all for the case would help.

* * *

 **So there we have it! We had a small discussion between James and Carlo, with the brunet learning that some damage has befallen the Challenger, and we also learnt a little more about Kendall and his backstory but James is still being very illusive about the past. Then, we had a small insight into Kendall's mind, with him thinking about James and everything they discussed! To finish it off, we had James donate his money to the rest of the crew. Look's like he's already gaining a soft spot for them!**

 **I want to say a massive thank you to Winterschild11, Guest, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter and I'm glad you all enjoyed it. You all hope that it isn't Kendall or his crew that are committing these murders, which was interesting to see and as usual, I'm going to say nothing about that, and you also seemed glad that James stopped Gustavo from getting the warrant. The real question is however, how long will James be able to stave them off for? Also, another surprise, but you seemed to like Dylan as well, which I had to laugh at, because the last Dylan we had was hated 😜**

 **I will see you on Monday for the next chapter of Blizzard, but until then,**

 **TTFN 😃🚗**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi Guys and welcome back to Rush & Response! So, as you can see, today's is a bit of a shorter chapter but it's one that necessary for the story! So, let's crack on shall we?**

* * *

The next time James pulled up to the garage, beeping his horn as usual, he was greeted with the sight of an chaotic garage, with stuff sprawled everywhere. Pulling into his usual spot, James noticed how a lot of the cars, including Kendall's blue Mustang, were up on the lifts with work being done to them, causing the brunet to raise an eyebrow slightly as he put in his earphone.

"Camille, if you can hear me, it looks like something big is happening. They've got all their cars out" James said quietly into the mic, hearing some ruffling as a response.

"Alright, I'll keep an ear out. Find out what you can" she replied, James nodding as a response.

"Will do" he responded, before turning off the car completely before switching the electronics back on so that Camille could listen in.

As he got out the car, he became slightly disorientation for a brief second, finding that nothing was in its usual place. Some of the engines parts that once hung on the walls were now sprawled over the floor, and the carts full of tools and equipment seemed to be scattered as well. Navigating it was almost like a maze, with James not really having a destination in mind, just the hope of bumping into someone. Finally, as the pushed a trolley out the way, he found Logan leaning against a work bench as he furiously typed into his laptop.

"Logan, what's going on?" James asked as he approached the brunet, only to find himself ignored as Logan continued to type away. "Logan?" James asked again, placing his hand onto Logan's shoulder. The reaction he got was the opposite to the one he expected, with the brunet essentially jumping out of his skin at the contact, with a hand over his heart. When Logan finally turned to James, all his questions were answered, as he saw Logan pulling out his earphones, James gathering that Logan was so engrossed in his music that he didn't hear him coming.

"Fucking hell" Logan said, once he'd finally gained his breath, causing James to let out a small chuckle.

"I didn't mean to scare you dude, I was just wondering where everyone was and what this text was about asking me to 'get here now'" James replied, as Logan pulled his phone out of his pocket and shut off the podcast that he seemed to be listening to. As Logan rolled his earphones around his phone, James thought that the brunet was just ignoring his question. That's when Logan shouted at the top of his lungs.

"JAMES IS HERE" Logan called out, causing the entire place to be filled with noise as everyone seemingly dropped what they were doing in order to race over to them.

"About time dude" Dak said to him, causing James to raise his eyebrow at him in confusion. Before James could respond however, Lucy called out summoning everyone to the break room, James' curiosity growing even further as he followed Logan and Dak to the back of the building, Carlos joining them and nodding towards James, in which James replied with the like.

"What's the whole thing about?" James asked, a smirk growing on Carlos' face as they walked.

"You'll have to find out. Although it's pretty exciting." Carlos answered, as he walked through the door first, James following shortly behind. As Dak and Carlos took a seat, James noted that Logan had walked up to the front, where Kendall was stood. The two of them conversed briefly while Logan plugged a few wires into his computer, and within a few seconds, his screen was projected onto the wall in which Kendall was stood again.

James managed to read the title of 'Waterway Rivalries' and his interested piqued with him acknowledging that this was the thing Lucy wanted him to be prepared for. "This was the thing you guys were talking about the other day" James stated, causing everyone to nod. "So, what actually is it?"

"The biggest racing tournament in all of Hyperion Falls" Lucy said from behind him, causing the brunet to turn to her. Of course, as soon as he did that, she started to make her way to the front of the room, joining Kendall on the other side of the projected screen.

"I can't believe you've made a presentation for this" Dak spoke up with a chuckle, as Carlos laughed along with him.

"I know. You guys are such nerds" Carlos added, this time James, even letting out a little chuckle.

"Hey, at least it's good that they're organised" James chimed in, causing Logan to roll his eyes as the three men chuckled.

"Alright, listen up now!" Lucy finally cut in, causing them all to go silent as they now began to pay attention. "Thank you. Now, for the sake of James, I'm going to explain what this whole thing is about, and then Kendall's going to cover the races that are happening during this year's event." Lucy continued, nodding to Logan who clicked over to the next slide.

It took James a few seconds for him to read the information that was present on it, and he instantly knew that this would be massively valuable information for the police. So, as Lucy began to speak, James loaded up a recording app on his phone, making sure it was a discreet as possible so that he didn't raise suspicion. With the app recording everything that was going on, James slouched back in his seat, listening to what Lucy had to say.

"So, Waterway Rivalries is a four day event that's spanning this weekend, from Friday to Monday, and like most years, this year it's being hosted and funded by the city's Crime Boss. The event takes advantage of the city's engineering river valleys that the waterfall feeds, and at this time of the year, the river's discharge is particularly low, meaning that were able to race through the network that travels all over the city. It also means that we're able to evade the cops for a lot of the weekend, as they tend not to check them"

That caused everyone to let out a little snort of laughter, although James' was for an entirely different reason, knowing that Lucy had given away a lot of hiding spots for racers around the city. Sitting up a little straighter as he listened, Lucy continued.

"So, this year we've got at least 5 viable racers meaning that we can enter quite a few of events over the weekend. However, whenever possible, I want Carlos and Dak to focus on repairing and upgrading the cars. We'll need them all to be at top form if we want to win these racers, so we can't afford to miss out on that"

"Does that mean you'll want us to roll out the special tires?" Carlos asked, causing Lucy to nod at the front, James' interest only growing further with the brunet being extremely grateful that he was getting all of this on record.

"Special tires?" James asked, but he was quickly shushed when Lucy began talking again.

"That means that Kendall, James and I will be doing most of the racing over the weekend, so the three of us will have to make sure we're at top for as well. These races are going on during all times of the day and night, so we'll take shifts for when we can sleep and when we race. Also, remember that the cash prizes in these events are huge, so there will be people coming from far and wide to involve themselves in this, it's probably the most organised street racing event in the entire country. Logan, I need you to be constantly checking and updating us on any races that will be worth it, as well as if any of the locations change"

"On it. I'll also try to follow you when the racers are happening, and provide you with the best routes to take" the brunet replied, causing everyone to nod.

* * *

'" _Alright, Kendall. If you wanna talk about the races we know about at the moment"'_

James reached over and pressed pause on his phone, causing the whole room to go silent as Gustavo and Camille contemplated what was said. "I've already sent the recording to Camille, so you'll be aware of when and where a few of the first races are occurring, but that's all I could really get. Oh, and that there seems to be party on Monday night to celebrate the weekend" James said, causing the two of them to nod as Gustavo stood up a little straight.

"Good work detective. This information is massively valuable to us" Gustavo said, James nodding as a response before the room went silent again, with it being clear that both Gustavo and Camille where thinking about what should happen next. A few minutes passed, before Gustavo spoke up again. "Do you know where this party is being held?"

"Unfortunately not. Apparently the venue changes every year, and is only released hours before the party actually starts. That way, no one can inform the cops" James said, letting out a soft chuckle which no one seemed to return.

"We need that location. Once we have that, on Monday I can send a strike force in to go after the Crime Boss. We can have this whole thing finished by Monday night"

"No" Both James and Camille said at the same time, the two looking at each other for a brief second, knowing they were on the same wave length. When Camille nodded at James, he knew that he was going to speak first.

"I don't think that's wise Captain. If the Crime Boss is even there, which I'm not a hundred percent he even will be, but if he is, then he's sure to have armed security with him. Sending in a strike force will only result in a shootout that will cause panic and potential civilian casualties. It's too risky." James said, before turning to look at Camille, as she spoke up.

"Plus, this whole event gives us a brilliant chance to ID a load of the racers, and the party will make it even easier. Afterwards, it then means that we can move in with a lot of arrests, without making it look very suspicious. If the police just show up at this event, and try to arrest everyone, it's only going to end poorly. And think about it, this event has been going on for years, so it'll look suspicious if the year James joins, the police show up. I recommend we let James continue as is for the weekend, and then afterwards, we start to move in on the racers. That way, James has an alibi as he'll have been with his crew the entire weekend so there's no way it could have been him"

"I second that" James added, flashing Camille a small smile before the two of them turned to Gustavo, who was thinking it all over.

"Fine" the captain said, causing both James and Camille to let out a small breath of air in relief. "But if there's any sign of trouble, or anything that links Kendall and his crew to the murders, then we're moving in straight away, and you won't be able to stop it. We need results, as the situation is only getting worse." Gustavo added, causing both James and Camille to look to each other before nodding.

"Deal" James said, causing Gustavo to let out a small huff before he walked out of the room. Turning to Camille, James said "Look's like I've got a tournament to prepare for" causing the brunette to let out a little chuckle.

"Indeed you have, partner" she replied, the two smiling at each other as they made their way out of the room, James reading himself for what was about to come.

* * *

 **So there we have it! I'm sorry this chapter is a little short, I've been so busy recently that I haven't had a lot of time to write but hopefully that'll change soon!**

 **Anyway, I want to give a massive thank you to Winterschild11, Guest, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter, and I'm so glad you all liked it! You seem to think that James needs to be a little bit more careful with everything he's doing, but I'm not going to comment on that and you also seemed to love Kendall opening up to James! I felt like that was important for the blond to do, but I will say that we haven't heard the full extent of his story yet, so stay tuned for that!**

 **I will see you all on Monday for the next chapter of Blizzard, but until then,**

 **TTFN 😃🚗**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi Guys and welcome back to Rush and Response! Not much to say, so let's crack on with it shall we?**

* * *

Everyone contributed to the preparation for Waterway Rivalries, and that included James. While Kendall, Carlos and Dak worked on prepping the cars in order to make sure that they were up to their best, James found himself assisting Logan in creating a timetable for who could race and when, since James knew that his mechanics skills were very limited. James found himself working very well with Logan, to his surprise, and he also found that Logan was very knowledgeable about a lot of the city's running.

As they worked, Logan told James about the local politics that was taking place, with James listening very intently to that, as well as when Logan told him about the police in the city. James found himself stunned by how Logan spoke about them, with him mentioning that the police were making a valiant effort to capture the street racers, but to quote the brunet 'nothing is going to stop a bunch of desperate people from doing what they need to do to get what they want.'

When James questioned him on that however, he found that the brunet shied away from the topic, his focus returning to who would be racing, as well as what camera's their aid would need to access. Still, as they continued, James never let that piece of information go.

There was one point during the preparation that caused James some major anxiety and that was when Kendall mentioned that he'd be told to check James' Audi for any upgrades that could be make. While the brunet wanted to object, and profusely at that, James knew it would look suspicious if he denied them access to them. Instead, James agreed but stated that he wanted to grab some bits from it before Kendall started. The blond didn't seem to question him on it, instead staying that they were moving onto it in about 10 minutes, so he had that long to get what he needed.

Of course, as soon as their conversation was over, James found himself racing over to the car and opening his glove box to reveal his badge, gun and handcuffs as well as the other bits it contained. As discreetly as he could, James grabbed them and stuffed them into his pockets, the gun of course going into the back of his trousers, before closing the glove box, making sure to keep it unlocked in case Kendall needed access to it. The last thing James needed was for Kendall to question why James' glove box locked. So, as the repair work went underway, James found himself anxiously waiting for them to either find something or finish and thankful the latter seemed to happen first. Kendall commented on what good condition James' car was in, before quickly adding that the only work he'd done to it was to tighten the supercharger a little more as it was beginning to come loose.

Trying not to take that as a personal attack on his work, because of course Kendall didn't know that James had personally installed that, James thanked Kendall before quickly checking the car over himself just to make sure that everything was ok, at least within his field of knowledge. Everything was put back into the glove box, which was then locked, and James tried to continue with his day, still slightly paranoid if anything had been done.

* * *

Of course, while the brunet had been working with Kendall and the crew, James was still finding time to co-ordinate with Gustavo and Camille, in order to make sure that the two of them had the most up to date information on the case. With the information he'd received about the racers, massively benefited from his time working with Logan, James and Camille were able to work out what cameras would provide them with the most chance to identify the racers taking place at the event. They'd decided to have a team working around the clock in order to make sure that all the cameras they'd specified would be monitored, meaning it was less pressure on Camille.

As well as that, he'd also provided some more race routes to Gustavo, who had decided to send patrol cars out at the times of the race. The chief promised that it would look completely unsuspicious, with the cars being told to follow standard procedure to show the racers that they weren't slacking. That was Gustavo's main concern, that if the police weren't active, the racers would get suspicious as to why. James' idea was the opposite, with increased police activity causing more suspicious, but he knew this time, he wouldn't be able to get through to Gustavo. He'd been given too many leeway's with this case, and he knew Gustavo was getting anxious for results. James had also been told to be on the lookout for any challengers racing at the event, as this could provide them with a good opportunity for them to build a list of suspects.

Gustavo still seemed convinced that it was one of Kendall's crew that was doing the killings, especially when James informed Gustavo that the type of tires connected to the murders were being fitted onto all the cars in Kendall's garage. Still, James couldn't shake the gut feeling that it wasn't Kendall's crew, despite the fact that so far James had recovered the means by which the murder was committed, the challenger in Kendall's garage, and the opportunity for them to do it, anytime James was out of the garage. What they hadn't collected was the motive and that was one thing that James was really hoping Kendall and his crew wouldn't have.

So, as the Friday rolled around, the Waterway Rivalries event started, and that's how James found himself in his current situation.

* * *

James glanced around, taking in the space around him. He was situated in one of the smaller concrete river valleys that existed in the city, with what seemed to be about 25 other people, all of which were doing their own thing. Some were comparing their cars, with the air around them being filled with the noise of engines revving as if to prove their dominance, while others were trying to chat up the woman that stood there in skimpy outfits, something that James certainly did not get. It wasn't necessarily cold where they were, but there was definitely a nip in the air that James could feel under his t-shirt and hoodie, so he couldn't imagine what they were feeling. Also, he didn't understand the appeal of it at all, but that was probably due to him being gay so he couldn't really comment on that.

As James glanced around, once again, his eyes made contact with a very grumpy looking blond who had pulled himself out of Audi, causing James to raise an eyebrow at Kendall.

"You didn't listen to a word I said did you?" the blond asked, James' eyebrows quirking as he tried to remember if Kendall had even said anything. That caused Kendall to let out a groan. "I'm suddenly doubting why I agreed to be your handler for this race" the blond continued, causing James to roll his eyes.

"I'm not a dog Kendall" James stated foremost, remembering that he said the same thing to Camille when she called herself his handler. "And secondly, it's cause Logan's busy talking Lucy through a race, and Dak and Carlos are working on the ford Focus, so you're stuck talking me through the route of the race" James continued, this time Kendall rolling his eyes.

"So obnoxious" Kendall replied light-heartedly, causing James to let out a soft chuckle, one that Kendall smiled at.

"So, what did I miss?"

"Just information about the race. From what I can tell, you're up against about 7 other people. I'd be careful however, I spotted a few people that I know like to drive rough, like that guy" Kendall replied, nodding his head towards a Nissan GT-R.

"What do you mean, likes to drive rough?" James asked, causing Kendall to shrug.

"He can do anything really. He's rammed my back bumper a few times in order to get past, and he likes to make people crash into item, like streetlamps and fire hydrants. He's tried to do it to me a few times before, but I managed to get round him. Although today I can imagine he'll be rougher, especially considering it's such a good win for a short race"

"How much is it again?"

"$25,000" Kendall replied, causing James to let out a low whistle at the price. "I know, so I need you to be on your best behaviour. That money could go a long way towards helping us out"

"Helping you out with what exactly?" James asked, but before Kendall had the chance to respond, or change the subject as the blond intended to do, they both heard someone shouting for them to get into their cars.

"It doesn't matter." Kendall shrugged, reaching into his back pocket before pulling out an earpiece. "Take this, and don't forget to turn it on. I'll make sure you guide you through the race, as well as let you know of any shortcuts that are coming up"

"But it's been near your ass" James joked back, trying to lighten up the subject. Luckily it worked, with Kendall letting out a snort as he playfully shoved James back slightly.

"You wish jerk" the blond smirked with a wink, causing James to let out a chuckle as Kendall continued. "And good luck, you've got this down." He continued, flashing James one last smile before he turned around and walked away.

Following Kendall's command, James turned on the earpiece and placed it into his right ear as he slid into the driver's seat of the car. Starting up the engine, James pulled in line with the rest of the drivers, all of their engines revving on the line, causing James to roll his eyes.

"I see you managed to turn on the earpiece then"

"I'm not that incompetent"

"Debatable" Kendall replied into his ear, causing James to roll his eyes as he watched one of the skimpily dressed women stand in front of all of them. "You'll notice I've already programmed the route into your map, but any changes you'll be relying on me to navigate for you"

"Then let's hope I don't have to leave this route" James quipped, and he could perfectly imagine the blond rolling his eyes at the comment.

"Stop being sassy and get ready. She's about to wave the flags" Kendall commanded, James actually following Kendall's advice this time as he watched the woman raise the chequered flag into the air. The revving around him got louder, as everyone prepared themselves to shoot off the line, and this time, even James couldn't resist the opportunity, loudly revving the engine of the Audi. "Impressive" he heard Kendall say, but before he could respond, the woman waved both flags down, signalling that the race was beginning.

James was quick as he sped off the race line, watching as he left some cars in the dust, but also as some took their place in front of him. "Not bad, you're in fourth place at the moment, so you've got three cars in front of you, and four behind." Kendall spoke into his ear, James pressing the accelerator down even harder in order to try and gain some speed.

As expected, the super charger kicked in at this point, providing James with a secondary burst on speed, one that he utilised perfectly as he managed to undercut the Fiesta in third place, now occupying the space himself. A smirk on his face, James went down a gear as he approached the first corner of the race, taking it perfectly as Kendall began to speak up in his ear. "Two cars are already out, so you're down to 5 other racers. Just stay focused and vigilant, and you'll have this down."

"If I can get past the two cars in front" James replied, watching as the two cars in front of him battled for first place.

"You'll be fine, you'll be able to overtake them soon. They were able to race off of the starting line, which suggests to me that they're build for a fast start, but they won't be able to last. That's where your Audi will get them. Just say on their tail and when the opportunity presents itself, take it"

"On it Boss" James replied, causing Kendall to snort before the mic went silent, leaving James to focus on his driving.

For some inexplicable reason, at least to the brunet, James couldn't seem to get rid of the feeling of invigoration from his gut. Surely he wasn't enjoying this was he? No, he couldn't be, this was all for the case and nothing more…

So why did he have a huge smile on his face?

* * *

It wasn't until about half way through the race when James started to encounter some problems. Kendall had been massively helpful in James' ear, keeping the brunet company on some of the more difficult sections of the course, as well as providing him with up to date information on traffic, and the movements of the police, something that James thought was slightly ironic, not that Kendall knew. During this time, James had also managed to overtake the car in front of him, meaning that he was now in second place and very closely following the only person that mattered in that moment, with James knowing he had to get into first, and had to win the money for the crew…wait, why did he _have_ to?

Before the brunet could question it, Kendall spoke up in his ear. "You're doing really well, and from what I can tell, you're right on the tail of the guy in first place"

"Yeah, but he's a tricky one. It's like he's anticipating my every move. He's blocking me from getting past"

"Just stay on him and I'm sure you'll get a chance to pass him" Kendall replied, James nodding not that the blond could see. "Although I'd watch out for third and fourth, they seem to be battling for that position, so whoever wins will be coming for you next"

That caused James to glance into his rear view mirror, but it didn't look like the two of them were battling, but instead driving next to each other, neither of them making any sort of power display to try and get ahead. Still, James decided not to question the blond on it, knowing that Kendall had been following their movements for most of the race.

Glancing around, James noticed that they had entered some sort of industrial estate, with factories pumping out smoke, as well as a few distribution centres where large trucks sat, waiting to be loaded so they could start their journeys across the country. This, of course, meant that James was distracted, and he only zoned back in when the car in first place seemed to slam on their brakes.

James managed to brake just in time to avoid crashing into the back of him, but the gap between them was narrow so James now had to be careful of any attempts he made. What made it even worse was James noticing that the cars behind him, in third and fourth, seemed to separate from each other and speed towards the two of them, except they did not do what James had expected them to do. The car in third place decided to drive on the right side, completely parallel to James, while the car in fourth had now situation itself just a few centimetres away from James' bumper.

It was then that he'd realised what they'd done.

"Kendall!"

"I know, I know, I see it" the blond replied, his voice seemingly calm considering James was boxed in. James was fairly familiar with the process, having to use it quite a lot when he was a junior officer, but also meant that James knew how difficult they were to get out of.

"Kendall?" James asked once again, this time seeing how the car on his right was slowly closing the gap between them. Luckily James had some room to his left, so he began to shift his car in that direction in order to try and avoid being rammed into. Of course, the problem that James was inevitably going to encounter was the wall to his left that he was approaching, and he knew once he hit that, he was doomed.

"Ok, ok" Kendall finally said in his ear, causing James to breath out a small sigh. "Unfortunately, there's not much you can do at the moment, but it's fine. What I need you to do it get as close to the wall as possible without touching it"

"What?" James practically yelled, Kendall telling him the exact opposite of what he was telling himself.

"There's a left turn coming up soon, but it's fairly concealed from the road, so you'll have to be ready. As soon as you see the junction, take it and they won't be able to react until after the junction has gone. Do you trust me?"

"Yes" James found himself replying, almost instantly, shocking himself for a brief second.

"Thanks" Kendall replied, and James could practically hear the smile on his face. "I'll be on here with you the entire time, talking you through everything"

"Thank you" James added, causing Kendall to let out a soft chuckle.

"No worries, that's what handler are for" Kendall responded, causing James to shake his head. "Alright, now the turn is coming up in 150 metres, you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be" James replied, his car now narrowly missing the wall as he drove. It helped that the brunet could see the ninety degree bend coming up on his map and as he watched his little icon move closer, James began to prepare himself, putting the car into a lower gear in order to better take the corner, knowing that drifting round this would result in his back end crashing into the building.

"And now!" Kendall announced into his ear, James passing the edge of the building to reveal the turn. Twisting his wheel to the left as much as possible, James pressed onto the brake, slowing the car from about 90mph to 60mph very quickly. Still, the corner was difficult for him to take at such a high speed, with his turning into the left lane at first but with the speed of the car, he ended up in the right one, although it's important to add, perfectly centred and with no damage to the car.

Everything that followed happened in what felt like slow motion, with James looking in his rear view mirror to witness the first and third place cars disappear behind the next building. The car in fourth place wasn't so lucky however, with James watching as it slammed right into the building, the entire front of the car crumpling at the impact.

In a split second decision, James found himself pulling out the earphone that held Kendall's voice, and shoving in the one that held Camille's. "We need paramedics on 34th and Waverly!"

"On it" Camille replied, James letting out a small sigh before pulling that earphone out, and put Kendall back into his ear.

"James?" Kendall asked, his voice quizzical.

"Yeah, I'm here. Sorry, I lost the connection" James replied, hoping Kendall would buy the lie.

"Alright, well I'll guide you back onto the main racing route. Hopefully there, you should come out in front of the other two cars as this is a bit of a shortcut.

"Thanks" James replied, letting out a sigh before shaking his head at the events that just transpired.

Hopefully the paramedics will be able to get to the racer before the situation gets any worse.

* * *

 **So, there we have it! James' first race of the tournament, and it was definitely an interesting one. We will get the next half of the race next time, but I decided to make it a new chapter instead of continuing it in this one, as it has another focus, but you'll see what I mean next week!**

 **Anyway, I want to say a massive thank you to Winterschild11, Guest, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter, and I'm so glad that you enjoyed it! You all seem to be a little worried about James' identity coming to light and I'm not going to comment on that, and you also seemed glad that Gustavo listened to their plan. I realised in this story, that Gustavo seems to concede quiet a lot, but I will say that that is going to change!**

 **I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and are having a great week, and I will see you all on Monday for the next chapter of Blizzard! But until then,**

 **TTFN 😃🚗**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hi Guys and welcome back to Rush & Response! So, let's crack on with it shall we?**

* * *

"Ok, you should be back onto the main route now." Kendall said, following James through the street cameras as he spoke.

"I can see the two cars ahead of me. Looks like I'm back in third place" James replied, causing Kendall to let out a little chuckle as he shook his head. Flicking through a few of the cameras, Kendall spotted the perfect place for James to take back his lead.

"There's an empty road coming up. You'll be able to take it back, so long as you stay focused."

"That's kind of difficult with you chatting away in my ear" James replied, causing Kendall to let out a hearty laugh.

"Please, you love it" Kendall replied, causing James to scoff, before letting out a small chuckle himself.

"I have to admit, you're not the most annoying person I've had in my ear" James responded, chuckling as he said it. Kendall on the other hand was slightly shocked by what James had just said, especially when the brunet had admitted before that the earphone in his car was only used to listen to the radio over the sound of his engine.

"You listen to people often?" Kendall asked, and he could practically hear James stuttering on the other side of the mic.

"No, not really. It's just…I'm not used to have people talk in my ear and when they do, it tends to be the annoying traffic person. It's nice to have someone else talking into my ear for a change" James responded, causing Kendall to roll his eyes, knowing that James couldn't see.

"Alright, well like I said, you're gonna come up to an empty road in a bit. Use it wisely, and you'll get ahead. I'll keep an eye out for anything that could help" the blond finished, before shutting off his mic, watching James drive through the street cameras, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

This time the blond was considering what James had meant when he said that the blond wasn't the only person talking in his ear, and he certainly didn't understand why his jealously seemed to spike all of a sudden. James did seem completely thrown off by Kendall's comment about it, and he was quick to try and recover from it, once he stopped stuttering of course, so what was James trying to hide?

' _That's even if he is trying to hide something'_ His own brain supplied, causing Kendall to take a step back a second. His brain, so technically him, was right. There was no reason to believe that James was trying to hide anything at all. Maybe Kendall was just creating this entire thing in his head. Maybe James was just joking about the thing, so when Kendall ask him, it threw him off guard. The blond let out a sigh as he sat at the computer. He was unsure of where all of this was coming from. James had been nothing but nice to them since he'd joined, trying to help out where he could around the garage.

 _'Although he does know very little about cars for a racer'_ His brain reasoned, now acting as the enemy for some reason. _'Yeah, but he's not a mechanic. James even admitted himself that he was nerd at school, so it was understandable that he didn't know a lot about cars. You yourself were thrust into your situation without much warning, and you were lucky that you were that you were always interested in cars'_ Kendall thought back, as it to combat what his brain was saying, and he was right.

James did know very little about cars, but Kendall didn't know his past, and James may have very well been shoved into this position without much experience.

 _'But if that were true, then why did he give away his cut of the money'_ His brain supplied once again, causing Kendall to shake his head as he let out sigh.

 _'Maybe he was just being nice'_ Kendall thought back, but this thought seemed to persist a little more than the usual ones.

 _'But if he was in the same position as you, then he sure as hell wouldn't want to give his money away. He'd need that money, and he want to keep it'_ His brain persisted, and this time, Kendall certainly couldn't disagree with it.

If James was in the same predicament, he would want to keep the money, and he couldn't give it away as freely as he did, that is for sure. Luckily, Kendall was snapped out of his little thought process when James spoke up in his ear.

"Hey, is this the road you were talking about?" the brunet asked, causing Kendall to snap back into reality as he looked through the street cameras, seeing that James as well as the other two racers were on the empty road.

"Yeah, that's the one. It's a pretty long road, so you should be able to catch up, and overtake them."

"Provided they don't pull anymore stunts they like did last time."

"Well, if they do try anything, just stay focused. I don't need you getting killed like the guy back there. Just do what you can, and if you think the opportunity is too risky, then don't take it" Kendall replied, changing camera to get a better position. He watched as the Audi went speeding past, James very rapidly gaining on the two cars ahead of him. By the way the two cars were driving, it was clear to Kendall they that'd noticed James approaching, and were definitely preparing for something.

"I'll keep that in mind. But I'll also remember that we need the money for winning" James replied, and it helped clear some of Kendall's doubts slightly, with James himself reaffirming that he needed it. "$25,000 isn't worth your life James, don't waste it for some cash"

"Someone wants to keep me around" James teased back, Kendall not being able to stop the blush that was growing on his face, grateful that James couldn't see him. "But thanks for that"

"Don't worry about it. Now, by the looks of it, they're getting ready to try and block you from getting past, hence why their driving parallel to each other" Kendall replied, trying to take the conversation back onto the race, and what he said was true. The two racers were driving right next to each other, taking up both of the lanes as they did so, leaving James with only the pavement as an opportunity to get past them, not that it would help the brunet. Whatever move James would make, the two racers would just move to block him, they've have to be smart about this.

"How long does it take the supercharger to kick in?"

"What?" James replied, Kendall watching as the brunet was now behind the two cars, his position steady as he spoke to Kendall.

"How long does it take for the supercharger to kick in?" Kendall repeated the question, causing James to let out a little sigh.

"I don't know, about 5 seconds maybe? Why?" James replied, Kendall completely ignoring the question.

"Ok, I may have a chance for you to get past, but it's kinda risky."

"Didn't you literally just say don't do anything too risky?"

"Don't quote me back to me" Kendall replied, causing James to let out a little chuckle. "And this isn't risky risky, it's just risky to pull off."

"I'm not following" James replied, Kendall rolling his eyes at the brunet.

"Ok, what I need you to do is lead one of the cars over to the side, making a gap in the middle of them. As soon as you've done that, I need you to drive through that gap before the cars come back together"

"I'd say that's pretty risky" James replied, causing Kendall to shrug.

"Let's just hope the supercharger kicks in then, and you shouldn't have any problems" the blond stated, as he flicked through the street cameras. "Ok, there an exceptionally straight piece of road coming up, so that'll be the perfect chance to do it. You trust me?"

"Of course." James replied, causing a small smile to grow on Kendall's face.

If only the blond could feel the same way about James at the moment.

* * *

As the straight piece of road approached, Kendall was constantly in James' ear, providing the brunet with as much support as he needed.

"Ok, let's do this" James said, causing Kendall to nod although there wasn't a lot he could do.

"You've got this" the blond replied, the street cameras pointed directly at James' car so he could watch the manoeuvre.

The blond watched as James began to veer to the left slightly, and luckily the car took the bait following him as if to block his path. James let the car over enough so that it was practically driving on the pavement, and Kendall sucked in a breath, ready for James to pull this off. He watched as the brunet released the gas for a second, allowing the supercharger to get prepared, before James slammed his foot back down onto the peddle, now veering right as fast as possible to get past them.

The gap in between the two cars was pretty wide, so while Kendall didn't have any fear that James couldn't pull this off, it was more the fear that one of the racers would try to ram into him. James was smooth as he slotted in between the two cars, and Kendall watched as the car James had lead away began to speed right back over, but James still remained headstrong. That's when the supercharger kicked in, Kendall watching as James' car shot forward, completely clearing the gap and putting him in the lead of first place.

"Nice going!" Kendall said into James' ear, the grin on his face massive as he watched James speed ahead of the other two racers, the brunet creating distance between them with ease. It was definitely true that James' car could sustain fast speeds over long distances much like the blond had expected.

"Thanks. I have to admit, I was a little worried when I saw the car coming back over. I thought he was gonna ram me"

"Good thing you know your car pretty well then" Kendall joked, causing James to let out a hearty chuckle.

"Hey, I'm learning! Not all of us can be seasoned mechanics like you straight away" the brunet replied, and that helped settle another suspicion Kendall had. It was true, James was learning, albeit very slowly, so while Kendall could focus on the fact that James knew nothing about cars, he could also flip that, and focus on the fact that James was learning.

 _'Just calm down Kendall'_ His brain supplied once again, and this time, the blond let out a sigh. Even his own brain was being a hypocrite at this point. As Kendall tuned back into watching the street cameras, he noticed something approaching James' rear, causing the blond to let out a rather long sigh.

"It's not over just yet James. Look back" the blond said, before getting a few seconds of silence from the brunet before a groan came over the mic. It was the Nissan GT-R that Kendall had commented on at the beginning of the race, and the one that had been causing James a lot of trouble during it.

"This guy certainly doesn't give up" James commented, causing Kendall to shake his head as he flicked through the street cameras to see what was coming up with the race.

"A lot of the course now is bends and a few straight sections, so you should be able to stay in the lead provided you don't give him an opportunity to pass you. Just…basically do what he was doing to you" Kendall planned, causing James to let out a soft chuckle.

"Alright. Keep me updated if that other race becomes a threat as well."

"Will do Boss" Kendall replied, this time James' chuckle getting a little louder. The race was pretty tight from there on out, with this racer seemingly wanting the money quite badly provided the risks he took to try and get past James. Luckily, the brunet was able to hold his own for most of it, blocking the racer whenever he tried to get past, or using opportunities in which to extend his own lead when he could. That meant that Kendall didn't really need to provide much insight, with the blond now only really providing traffic reports for upcoming sections of the race, as well as the position of the car in third place, who looked like they'd just completely given up.

* * *

As the racers started to draw closer to the finish line however, that's when the Nissan decided to play even dirtier. As James swerved to block the racer from getting past, he received a jolt from the back of the car, causing his focused to be knocked off slightly for a few seconds.

"That prick!" James essentially shouted down the earphone, causing Kendall to swap to a camera that was closer to James. "Kendall, the bastard just rammed me!"

"I warned you about that" the blond replied, watching as the racer did it again, James letting out a 'fucking hell' as he did.

"So? What do I do?" James asked, and Kendall could hear how he was gritting his teeth as he spoke.

"Not a lot really if he's ramming you from behind. You'll just have to take it" the blond replied, before snorting at his own innuendo.

"This isn't a time for sex jokes Kendall" James snapped, causing the blond to hold up his hands, again that James could see.

"Ok, ok fine. The best thing I can recommend is to try and move out of the way as he's about to hit you. That way, it'll throw his car off balance slightly"

"That's kinda difficult when he's ramming me from behind"

"Har har"

"Kendall!" James snapped once again, causing the blond to roll his eyes.

"Fine. You'll probably have to speed up. It's gonna be difficult, but at least that way he won't be able to pass you"

"But I'm already going as fast as I can"

"Then buckle up for the ride" Kendall snickered, causing James to let out a long sigh.

"I take it back. You are the most annoying person I've had to listen too" James mumbled, causing Kendall to let out a little chuckle.

"Look, the finish line is right around the next corner. The car will take some damage, but if you can hold out for that long, you're golden. Just try to speed up if you can, but other than that, there's not much you can do"

"Thanks" James replied, Kendall watching as the Audi was rammed again. By this point, the blond didn't even need to use the street cameras, watching as the battling two cars came round the corner together. James was still in the lead, luckily, but Kendall could see the second car ramming James and it was safe to say that Kendall knew what it was like.

Still, the brunet seemed to be holding on strong, and by this point, Kendall was standing as he watched the Audi race across the finish line, the gathered crowd erupting into applause, Kendall included. As James came to a stop, the other racer did the same, pulling off to the side and as James stepped out of his, Kendall found himself sprinting up to James and enveloping him in a hug. James was taken back by it at first, but he quickly settled into it, wrapping his arms around Kendall as all the walls he'd built up completely crumbling.

Unfortunately the moment was ruined by the prick in the Nissan and his friend running over to shout at James.

"Hey dickhead! You killed my fucking friend!" The guy said as he pushed James slightly, causing the brunet to stand up straight. Being a cop, James knew what it was like to deal with threatening behaviour and he also knew the best way to throw a punch. Of course, only if that was really necessary.

"First of all, _dickhead,_ if you hadn't tried to pull off those dirty tricks, then none of that would have happened. And secondly, the last thing I noticed was the paramedics showing up, so hopefully you're friend's still alive…although let's be honest, he's probably been incarcerated by this point" James replied, causing the guy to growl at him.

Kendall on the other hand was curious about what James had said. Who could have called the paramedics? There was no one in that industrial estate, apart from the racers and whoever was watching on the street cameras. Maybe one of them called the paramedics, but that was unlikely as racers weren't usually that compassionate, hence why Kendall didn't even do it.

Of course, there was always the possibility that it was James.

 _'It would explain why he wouldn't answer over the mic as soon as it happened'_ his brain stated, causing Kendall to let out a silent sigh. Why did he even care about this? So what if the brunet called the paramedics, if anything it just shows how caring James is by the fact that he didn't want anyone to die due to a race. Maybe the blond was just overthinking this.

"You fucker!" Kendall tuned back in to, seeing the second place winner being held back by his friend as if to stop the fight from happening.

"Is there a problem here?" Lucy's voice spoke up, Kendall only just noticing how the rest of the crew had joined them.

"No, no problem" the third guy winner spoke up to try and defuse the situation.

"You better watch yourself. Next time, I won't be so kind" the second place winner threatened to James, the brunet not looking fussed at all which of course, only pissed second place off more as he walked away.

"What was that all about?" Lucy asked, causing Kendall to shrug.

"It's a long story, but the positive side of it is that James won the race!" Kendall replied, causing everyone to cheer as they enveloped James into a hug this time. "Nice going!" "Well done!" and "Good work!" were among a few of the praises James received from the group, and it only got better when the guy came over to hand them the cash.

Everyone seemed to crowd the briefcase as it was placed onto Audi's hood, but that's when James like someone was staring at him. Turning around, James noticed a black escalade pulling through the area.

The vehicle was at some distance, so James struggled to make out some of the details, but what he certainly did notice was that the back window was down, and that's when he felt a cold shiver come over him as the figure stared at him. James couldn't make out a lot of the features, apart from the fact that it was a white male and it seems that Kendall had noticed the car as well.

"The overlord is here" the blond said to James, his tone filled with massive amount of venom causing the brunet to raise an eyebrow at him, questioning what Kendall meant by that. Instead, the blond just went silent, turning back to the rest of the group, James' curiosity peaking massively.

This case was definitely getting more interesting as every day passed.

* * *

 **So there we have it, the continuation of the race, this time from Kendall's perspective as the blond starts to have some doubting thoughts about James! What do we think this will mean for the two of them, or do you think Kendall will convince himself its nothing of note? James won the race as well, which is always nice!**

 **I want to give a massive thank you to Guest, Winterschild11, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter, and I'm so glad you all enjoyed it! You all seem curious as to why Kendall and the crew need the money, but don't worry, you won't have to wait long to find out, and you all seem to think that James' car has been bugged! Of course, we'll have to wait and see how that plays out! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!**

 **I hope you're all having a good week, and I'll see you on Monday for the next chapter of Blizzard! But until then,**

 **TTFN 😃🚗**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hi Guys and welcome back to Rush & Response! I don't have a lot to say here, so let's crack on shall we?**

* * *

It was safe to say that for the rest of the weekend, James was constantly glancing around the locations he was visiting for each race; trying, hoping and praying that he'd catch another glance of the black escalade that he saw after his race. From what Kendall had said about him, James knew that that must have been the Crime Boss, but when the brunet asked the blond for more information, Kendall always shied away and change the subject meaning that James couldn't get any more information about it.

What made it ten times worse was that because James was so distracted by trying to make out who the guy was, he didn't catch the license plate of the car, meaning that there was no way for him to track it. The rest of the crew also wouldn't answer any of his questions, meaning that James' only hope of getting any information about the Crime Boss was to see the guy again with his own eyes, and hope that he could catch something. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to have any luck.

On top of that, with the event continuing around him, James knew that he couldn't just abandon his duties in order to search for the escalade. That would raise suspicions from the crew and the last thing he needed was for his cover to be blown in the middle of a street racing gathering, so the brunet continued to fill his role, racing when necessary as well as sometimes talking the role of handler with him having to guide both Lucy and Kendall for a couple of races. By the time everything was coming to a close on Monday, James was sure that he, himself, had taken part in about 8 races over the weekend, and with Kendall and Lucy completing about the same amount, the three of them were totalled at 24. As well as that, Carlos and Dak completed a few races when necessary, meaning that they must have all completed about 30 races in total, with that learning one major thing over the weekend.

Whatever the crew was collecting money for, it was certainly important.

The brunet still didn't know what the money was going to be or being used for, but from the way they all reacted whenever a race was won or lost, the brunet knew it must have been important. If a race was won, the crew would be elated with them all crowding around the victor congratulating them with massive smiles on their faces before the money was stowed away for safe keeping in order to make sure it could be split evenly at the end of the weekend. Everyone would be buzzing when a win happened, and the atmosphere would last at least a couple of hours after.

A loss however, well that was completely different. Everyone would consolidate the loser, who would always seem super apologetic and James could see on everyone's faces that they were all disappointed when it happened. Everyone's mood would be affected by it, despite how much they tried to show it and that seemed to linger normally for the rest of the day unless another win occurred.

* * *

Of course, the whole weekend, James was in correspondents with Camille and Gustavo, especially after his brief 'encounter' with the Crime Boss. The two of them were all over it, drilling James for any detail he could provide, despite how small it may be, and when the brunet was completely out, the two of them were searching all of the street cameras for any sign of the escalade.

Oh, did that prove to be challenge.

The two of them were unable to discern where the car had come from in the first place, with it seeming just appearing on the camera and for some inexplicable reason, they were unable to get a picture of the license plate. It would always be blocked by another car, or some other kind of obstruction, leaving the two of them completely baffled as to how such a thing could occur.

Realising that was a dead end, the started to focus on James' other reports, with the brunet helping them identify a lot of the cars and racers that were at the event, meaning that they were able to build an extensive database of 'criminals' as Gustavo kept reminding them, and James was also able to tell the two of them were some racer safe houses were situated, meaning that when the event was finished, they could start to make some arrests and finally start showing some progress for the case. Gustavo was still trying to push that they move on some of the racers now, but Camille and James kept up their defence, saying it would only ruin the case it they did, exposing James as an undercover agent meaning that they couldn't complete their task.

James could sense that while Gustavo was letting them continue for now, it wouldn't last much longer, and James could only hope that they'd gotten enough information before that happened.

* * *

So, as the event due to a close on Monday, James found himself and the crew attending the finale party, which was to round off the entire weekend. The location wasn't revealed until an hour before it actually started, much like James had told Gustavo when the event was first brought up, but as soon as James knew the location, he sent a text to Camille, keeping her updated on what was happening. James was ensured that no squad cars would be sent, but instead a few units would set up across the street of the location in order to monitor the situation. With very little room to argue, James ended the conversation between them as he arrived at the luxurious party that was being held.

It seemed to be a fancy hotel which overlooked the waterfront, with the racers being able to get down onto the beach, and when James pulled up to the location, he was told to park his car in the underground car park. Luckily Kendall was in front of him, so James found himself following the blue mustang down and he was lucky enough to park next to the blond. After saying his final words of the evening to Camille, James switched off the engine, and stepped out of his Audi, the brunet being met with the sight of Kendall leaning against boot of his car.

"You ready?" Kendall asked, but James could tell by the way Kendall had said it, that the blond was dreading what was about to occur.

"Sure, although I'm not sure what to expect." James replied, causing Kendall to let out a humourless chuckle.

"Just picture millions of dollars spent on the location and decorations, and you'll be close" the blond stated a little venom in his voice as he pushed himself off of the boot before walking along side James.

"You don't seem to happy about it" James stated, but before Kendall could reply, Carlos caught up to the two of them and cut in.

"That's because Kendall here is a buzzkill" the Latino said, causing Kendall to scoff at the response. When James raised an eyebrow at Kendall, waiting for a response, nothing came making James slightly more curious. Before he could fall to deep into thought however, Carlos continued to talk. "But you're going to love it James! There's so much booze, dancing and a lot of hot people. Makes spending the entire weekend under cars worth it"

"Well, you do like to be on your knees" Dak spoke up, causing Lucy and Logan, who had also just joined them, as well as Kendall to let out a little chuckle, while Carlos just rolled his eyes.

"Twat" the Latino replied as the lot of them walked into a lift, Lucy pressing the button to take them to the floor the party was on. "But seriously, it's going to be lit" Dak continued, causing James to roll his eyes slightly at the language used.

Lucy was the only one who seemed to notice James' action, with her smirking slightly, just as the lift doors opened. Instantly, James was greeted with absurdly loud music blaring through the hotel lobby, the walls slightly shaking next to him due to the base. Carlos and Dak rushed out of the lift, the two of them heading straight over to the bar, causing Lucy to roll her eyes this time. She was the third person to exit the lift, a nonchalant walk as she did as if to show that she wasn't fussed about the whole thing.

Logan was next, mumbling something about 'can't hear myself think in here' as he walked out, James and Kendall following behind. James watched as Logan headed towards the door at the back on the hotel, which led onto the beach the hotel was situation on, and when the brunet looked around for Kendall, the blond was completely gone, with no indication of where he was.

Letting out a sigh as he realised that he was alone, James decided the bar was probably the best place to way, he'd be able to get a drink, but he also knew that some of the best gossip can be gained from drunkards. With a smile on his face, James made his way over.

* * *

James spent most of the evening wondering about, drink in hand, as he tried to find out some information about the Crime Boss as well as scout out the location he was in for any sorts of clues as to if the Crime Boss was even there. It was highly plausible that the Crime Boss had hosted the party for all the racers, but hadn't shown up himself, with him knowing how quickly it could be raided by the cops. So, with that being said, James found himself eavesdropping into quite a few conversations as the evening passed. While some of them were as James expected, drunken racers bragging about the cash and races they'd won over the course of the weekend, a few of them seemed to catch James off guard as he listened to them.

When eavesdropping on a couple of men, James found himself learning about one guy's family, with them talking about how his daughter had just started to attend a local pre-school, and how he hoped that he could continue to fund his family in order to make sure they were having the best life possible. Another group were listening to one girl talk about how her mother was now happily recovering in hospital due to the money she won, something that the listeners seemed happy to hear, and as James quickly stopped listening to the conversation, he found himself feeling a little empathy for some of the racers.

It was only now becoming clear to him that some of these racers were just regular people who, by the sounds of it, didn't have a choice in whether they raced or not. As James eavesdropped on more conversations, none of which seemed to be about the Crime Boss, James found himself realising that this was the only choice for some of these people, it was the only way for them to pay for the highly expensive medical bills to care for her mother or to get their daughter into the local pre-school. James let out a sigh. This certainly wasn't what he was expected, and never on a case had James began to sympathise with the criminals.

 _'Because that's what they are James, they're just criminals, breaking the law and being a danger to society'_ he tried to convince himself, but the conversations he'd overheard seemed to play on repeat.

 _'But there not just criminals. There people who have resulted to racing because of the situation beyond their control'_

 _'Just focus on the case. You're here to catch the Crime Boss, that's all. You're not here to get pally with the suspects'_

Another sigh escaped James' mouth. If he was going to keep this up, he was going to need another, stronger drink. Glancing over at the bar, James spotted a familiar blond leaning against it, with what looked like a coke in hand. With a sad smile on his face, James made his way over to Kendall, hoping the blond could cheer him up, and pull him out of this psychological debate. He'd face that in the morning debriefing with Gustavo and Camille.

* * *

As James walked over to the blond, he couldn't help but notice the expression Kendall was sorting. The blond's mouth was forming a very clear frown, and the blond eyes seemed to be dancing around the room, as if he was watching everyone having a good time and hating it. It reminded James of what the blond had said in the car park before Carlos had interrupted and now James was more intrigued than ever. When Kendall spotted the brunet walking over, James noticed the small smile that briefly grew on Kendall's face before it was replaced again with a frown, and that caused James to let out a little chuckle as he leant against the bar next to Kendall.

"You look like you're having a good time" James said, causing Kendall to let out a scoff before taking a sip of his drink. James was definitely intrigued by this. Everyone was saying about how amazing this party will be, and while everyone else seemed to be loving, Kendall was the only one who wasn't.

"Oh yeah, I'm having tons of fun standing by the bar receiving dirty looks from strangers who I beat in races. It's like my favourite pastime" the blond replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm causing James to let out a little chuckle, one that caused the smile to return on Kendall's face. "What about you, you enjoying yourself?" Kendall continued, causing James to shrug as he moved so that his back was no leaning on the bar instead of his side.

"It's…not what I expected" James replied, causing Kendall to raise an eyebrow at him as he took another sip of his drink.

"How so?" the blond asked, causing James to let out a sigh.

"Well, by the way Carlos and Dak spoke about it, I was expecting a load of drunken idiots getting even drunker and dancing about, but as I walked about, I was hearing stories about people's children and parents, and I don't know, I guess I just forgot that these people have lives as well you know" the brunet said, and when Kendall didn't say anything, James looked over at him, seeing the frown that was back on Kendall's face.

"Yeah, I know exactly what you mean" Kendall replied, taking a bigger swig of his drink. "When you're racing, it's easier to think of them as just the opponent because then you don't feel bad winning. But when you listen to all the stories, you realise that they're hear for the same reason you are" Kendall continued, causing James to raise his eyebrow at him.

"And what reason would that be?" James asked, the blond instantly tensing up at the question. "Come on Kendall, I mean, I saw over this weekend how much the money meant to you all, but what I still don't know is why. Why do you need all of this money, what's it for? I thought you trusted me."

James could see that Kendall was deep in thought over what he had said, and after what seemed like a few minutes of silence, Kendall finally spoke.

"Not here" the blond said, shaking his head before finally making eye contact with James. His vibrant green eyes were swirling with emotion, James being unable to pick any specific one out as so many were present. "Meet me at the top of the waterfall in 10 minutes. We'll talk there" the blond continued, causing James to nod at his request.

With a sad smile on his face, James watched as Kendall downed the rest of his drink before placing the glass back onto the bar and disappearing into the crowd so that he could make his exit. James followed loosely behind, making sure to make it not look to obvious and by the time James had walked down the stairs to the underground car park, Kendall's blue mustang was no where to be seen. Sliding into his Audi, the first thing that James did was place the earphone into his ear as he started up the engine.

"Camille?"

"What's up" she replied as James placed the car into reverse and pulled out of the spot.

"I'm finally going to find out what the money is being used for. This could be the turning point we need" James said, as the Audi engine revved when he pulled out onto the road. "I'm heading up to the waterfall to meet with Kendall now. Hopefully I'll be able to get some more answers out of him about the Crime Boss as well"

"Alright, just be careful, and remember that I'll be listening the entire time, so try to get as much out of him as you can. This could be a real lead James."

"I know, and I'll try, Diamond out." James replied before cutting off the call, a small sigh escaping his mouth as he did.

The brunet would finally find out what Kendall was hiding from him, so why couldn't James get rid of this guilty feeling that was starting to seep in.

* * *

 **So there we have it! Next chapter we'll be getting Kendall's back story so I hope that you're ready for it! Also, James is starting to feel a little guilty about the whole thing! I wonder what this could mean...**

 **I want to say a massive to Winterschild11, Guest, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter, and I'm so glad you all liked it! You all seem convinced that Kendall is slowly figuring out James secret, but I'm not going to say a lot about that, which might be a spoiler in itself, but you also seemed to love the small bit of Kames at the end with the two of them hugging as well as their playful banter! I have to admit, I had fun writing that myself, so I'm glad you liked it!**

 **I hope you're all having a good week, and I will see you on Monday for the next chapter of Blizzard! But until then,**

 **TTFN 😃🚗**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hi Guys and welcome back to Rush & Response! So, as you can tell, this chapter is a little longer than my usual ones, which I didn't even realise while writing at the time! Turns out Kendall has a lot of backstory, so I won't keep you and let's crack on, shall we? Oh, and you'll probably be able to figure this out, but the bits in italics are flashbacks from Kendall's perspective!, and I'm sorry for the big chunks of text! I've tried to split it the best I can!**

* * *

When James finally arrived at the top of the waterfall, he noticed how Kendall was already waiting for him, the blond sat on the bonnet of the blue mustang as he looked out at the city. James pulled up beside him, and even the brunet had to take a few seconds just to admire the view. Much like James had said on his first passing of this location, the city was beautifully lit, with each building having a different colour which illuminated the night sky.

As well as that, James could see the location of the party, meaning that during the day, the waterfall would provide a beautiful view of the ocean, however at the moment, it was submersed in darkness. Seeing that Kendall was glancing over at him, James found himself turning off the engine of the car, making sure that the electrics were still on as he did so, before he stepped out.

"Hey" Kendall said to him, with a sad smile on his face, one that James copied.

"Hey, you've picked a place with a great view" James replied, trying to make some conversation with the blond before things got heavy.

"Thanks. I come up here when I just need to…think, you know, to clear my head"

"Yeah, I can see why" James continued, awkwardly stood leaning against his bonnet.

Kendall noticed the action, and patted the space next to him as he scooted over slightly. "You might as well sit down. It's a pretty long story, so get comfortable"

"Thanks" James replied, as he climbed onto the mustang's bonnet. He noticed how it was still slightly warm from when the car had been running, helping provide a sense of comfort in the situation.

Once situated perfectly, James looked over to Kendall, who was now staring out of the city, not making eye contact with him.

James heard the little sigh that escaped Kendall's mouth before the blond began to speak.

* * *

"I suppose it all started when I was 17. My mum died unexpectedly when she was walking home from work one night. It wasn't even that late, only about 7 o'clock, but the police said that she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Some guy mugged her for whatever she had in her wallet, but when she started to scream, he panicked and shot her. The bullet went straight into her heart, so when the emergency serviced turned up, there wasn't anything they could do. They informed us about it straight away, and with me being 17, and my younger sister Katie, being 14, they decided that we should be moved into an orphanage for the time being. I was in senior year at the time, but like I said to you before, it was difficult for me to concentrate when I was trying to grieve for my mother. What made it even worse, was that about two weeks after her death, the police got back to Katie and me, saying that they weren't able to find the guy who had done it. Apparently, there were no witnesses to the crime, and since her bag had been stolen, there was nothing they could do forensics on, so we were told that they were dropping the case. Can you imagine that? Being a 17 year old boy, who's been told that their mother is dead, then been shoved into an orphanage, only to find out that they won't be getting justice for their mother's dead as the police couldn't find or do anything."

"That's horrible" James said, feeling the compelling need to reach out and hold Kendall.

The brunet found himself resting a hand on Kendall's knee to show his support, and when Kendall didn't shift away, James took it as a good sign. Instead, the blond continued speaking.

"The first year after she died was difficult to get through because of the fact that Katie and I were still trying to get used to life without her, but what I didn't expect was for things to get worse when I'd finished high school. According to the orphanage, once I'd finished high school, I was officially an adult, and that meant I could be granted legal guardianship of Katie, meaning that I was now responsible for her. We were both still grieving, but the two of us were essentially kicked out of the orphanage, and back into our old house where I was now expected to get a job and start paying for things like the bills and the mortgage. If there was ever a way to force someone to grow up quickly. I was working two jobs just so I could afford the bills that were coming in every month. Katie, bless her, she wanted to help out in any way she could, but with her only being 14, she couldn't get much more than a couple of papers rounds. Of course, with me working over the course of the year, I hadn't really had a lot of time to grieve and I remember at one point, I just snapped.

I didn't turn up for any of my shifts for about a week, I just laid in bed and cried when Katie went to school. It wasn't fair for me to dump all of my issues on her as well, with her being so young and dealing with so much already, so I just bottled it all up when she was there and cried when she wasn't. One morning, she eventually caught me. I'd made sure she'd left for school on time, and as soon as she was out of the door, I broke down into tears on the kitchen table. I didn't even hear the door go when she walked back in, but I knew it was too late when I heard her say 'oh Kendall' and pull me into a hug as I cried in her arms. Turns about she was more responsible than many kids were at her age, so the two of us sat in each other's arms as I finally let everything out. We decided at the end of that day that we were going to move. We both said that living in the same house we lived in with mum was too much for the two of us, so we agreed that we should get out of Minnesota and start a new life. The next day, I spoke to a real estate agent, and told him to sell the house at a reasonable price to the first buyer that was interested, and we started to pack up all of our stuff. The house sold pretty quickly, and for a fair sum of money as well, so Katie and I started to look for two bedroom apartments all of the country and the best one we found was here, in Hyperion Falls. Within about a week of me breaking down, Katie and I had left our old lives behind and began new ones here. She enrolled at the local high school, and I got a small waiting gig, the same one I work at now"

* * *

"Kendall, I'm so sorry" James said, when he noticed Kendall was taking a small break.

"That's not even the worst of it" Kendall replied, letting out a humourless chuckle as he reached up to wipe the tears that had gathered in his eyes. James noticed his, and with the brunet taking a big risk, he found himself scooting across the bonnet so that he was sitting right next to the blond, their thighs touching, before he wrapped his arm around the blond's shoulder to show Kendall that he was there for him. Kendall relaxed into the touch, suddenly feeling a sense of comfort wash over him, and after taking a deep breath, he began again.

"It was about a year after we'd moved to Hyperion Falls, and at the time, I thought everything was going really well. Katie and I had managed to grieve the death of our mother, and together we were able to accept out new situation. Like I said, I was working in the small dinner, earning enough money for us to pay the rent and bills for our apartment each month, as well as have a little bit left over for us to spend. We were by no means living the best life you could imagine, but we were together, and we were happy. Anyway, I remember coming home one day after my shift at the dinner to find Katie laid on the sofa, and at the time, I didn't think anything of it. She was napping, so I tried my best to stay quiet as I got everything sorted. It was about an hour later when she woke up, as I was cooking tea, and I remember her coming into the kitchen"

* * *

' _Hey sleepyhead' I said with a smile as she sat down at the kitchen table, her arms crossed over her chest._

 _"Hey, it's really cold in here" she replied, causing me to raise an eyebrow at her._

 _"Really, I thought it was pretty warm. Still, you can always turn up the heating if you want. Just not too much, as we don't need the heating bills going up" I joked, causing her to roll her eyes as she went over to the thermostat. "So, how was school today?" I asked, causing her to shrug as she twisted the dial slightly._

 _"Yeah, it was alright. I felt light headed for the most of it, although I've been feeling like that for a couple weeks now" she replied, causing me to stop what I was cooking, and look round at her with a small frown on my face._

 _"You should have told me about this, Katie. I would have taken you to the doctors if I'd have known"_

 _"I know, but it's probably just a cold and I don't want to waste money on unnecessary doctors' trips when we can't afford it. I'm fine seriously"_

 _"Ok, as long as you're sure" I replied, causing her to let out a small nod before I turned back to continue my cooking._

* * *

"Really I should have looked more into it then, but she told me she was alright, and I was inclined to believe her. The next few weeks, I kept asking if she was feeling any better, and maybe she was lying to me, or maybe she just didn't realise, but she kept saying that she was ok, and that I was worrying too much. But I was her big brother you know, and after everything that happened with mum, I just wanted to make sure that she was doing ok, and feel alright, you know"

"I know what you mean" James replied, as Kendall snuggled back into James' arm slightly while wiping the few tears that had begun to gather in his eyes.

"So, anyway, it was about two weeks later, on a Saturday when I remember the two of us were just chilling out in the house, watching some TV."

* * *

" _I need a piss" Katie said to me as she reached over to grab the controller and pushed the first button._

 _"Ok, first, thanks for the announcement, and secondly, language!" I replied with a grin on my face, causing her to let out a small chuckle._

 _"Come on, big brother, I'm 16 now, I should be allowed to swear with you saying language after it" "_

 _I'm just not used to it. You're still my younger, little sister in my eyes. I think I stopped ageing you at like, 12"_

 _"Har har" she replied, flipping me off, causing me to let out a soft chuckle before she pushed herself off of the sofa._

 _As soon as she stood up, it was like everything went into slow motion, and when I looked over at her, I saw how her body had gone limp and she began to fall to the floor. I tried my best, pushing myself up off the sofa in the hopes that I could catch her, but I wasn't fast enough, and she hit the floor._

 _Luckily, the living room in our apartment was carpeted, and she didn't hit anything on the way down, but I was still scared shitless from it. I remember rushing over to her, and shaking her in the hopes that she would wake up, but she didn't, so I rung 911._

* * *

"The woman on the phone was pretty helpful in telling me ways to get Katie to wake up, but she didn't seem responsive to any of them, so they sent out an ambulance to take her into the hospital. They were at our apartment pretty quickly, and on the way to the hospital, they were able to get Katie to stir slightly which helped me relax, but I kept getting from the paramedics when I asked what was wrong was that 'they needed to run more tests.'

When we finally got to the hospital, Katie was rushed off somewhere while I began to tell the doctor what she'd told me, with her saying that she was feeling slightly light-headed a few weeks ago, and when the doctor asked me if she was cold as well, I nodded, knowing that she had some idea of what it was, but again, all I got from her was that 'more tests needed to be run' before they could tell us anything. I must have waited in the waiting room for hours before someone finally come and got me and when I finally got to Katie's room, I saw how she was laid in the bed, hooked up to some IV. That's when the worst news of all came."

* * *

" _So, we've run some tests on your sister, and we know what's caused all of this. I'm so sorry to tell you this, but Katie, you have Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia" the doctor said, before closing the folder she was reading out of. I squeezed Katie's hand, a few tears welling in my eyes as I turned to the doctor._

 _"What does that mean?" I asked, knowing I'd heard of Leukaemia before but at the moment, my head was everywhere so I couldn't remember what it was._

 _"It means that your sister is suffering from a type of blood cancer that starts in the bone marrow, but in her case, it has spread to many of her other organs such as the liver. If we don't act soon, it will be fatal." the doctor replied, as more tears welled in my eyes._

 _"And is there a cure? Or anyway to stop or get rid of this cancer" I asked, clinging onto the small bit of hope that I had left._

 _"That's where this gets difficult, both for me and for you" the doctor replied, letting out a small sigh as she did so. "There are many types of treatment that we can try. Chemotherapy will probably be the best bet, but we can always go for a bone marrow transplant if that doesn't work. The issue that we have is one of payment"_

 _"Payment?" I remember asking, and I could feel my blood boiling as she said it._

 _"You're not insured, which means that in order for your sister to get the treatment she needs, you'll have to pay us upfront, which could cost you around about $30,000 for the eight week period."_

 _"Wait, my sister is dying, and you're telling me that you won't save her life until I pay?" I asked once again, causing the doctor to slowly nod as more tears welled in my eyes._

 _"I'm sorry, but we just can't provide you with free treatment. If we did, then we'd have to provide it to all of our other patients."_

 _"But my sister is dying!" I shouted back, as I squeezed Katie's hand. "Surely there was to be something you can do? Someway you can help?"_

 _"I'm so sorry" the doctor said once again, before taking a step towards the door. "I'll give you some time to think it through" she finished, before finally walking out of the room, leaving Kendall and Katie alone in the room._

 _"I told you we can't afford the doctors" Katie said, with a sad chuckle at the end of the sentence as a few stray tears fell from her face._

 _"Katie, this isn't the time for a joke" I replied, flashing her a sad smile as I wiped the tears off her cheek._

 _"I know, but we both know that we don't have that much money, let alone to spend on medical fees Kendall."_

 _"But I'm not going to let you die!" I replied, squeezing her hand a little more as a few more tears fell from my face. Before my sister could reply, the doctor walked back again._

 _"Mr Knight, your sister needs to rest. I've been told that we can provide her with a free night stay at the hospital, but tomorrow, we need to know your decision" she said, causing me to nod before I leaned down to press a kiss on Katie's forehead._

 _"I'll be back first thing tomorrow morning"_

 _"I know you will big brother. And I know that whatever choice you make will be the right one" Katie replied, causing more tears to well in my eyes._

 _"Mr Knight" the doctor said once again, causing me to nod as I let go of Katie's hand._

 _"I love you sis"_

 _"I love you too big brother" Katie said, before I finally left the room._

* * *

"I made it to the waiting room before I broke down crying on one of the seats. I just couldn't believe the situation that I was in, and Katie was right. We couldn't afford the medical bills to fight the cancer but how was I supposed to accept that she was going to die before I couldn't afford to pay for her treatment" Kendall said, sniffling slightly as he wiped the tears from his eyes.

"That's so awful" James said, rubbing his hand across Kendall's shoulder as a show of support.

"I couldn't of imagined being in that situation, and I would have done anything to make sure that my sister was going to be ok"

"So what happened?" James said, causing Kendall to sniffle once more before he launched back into his story.

* * *

 _I must have been crying for about 5 minutes by this point, before I felt someone sit in the seat next to me._

 _"Hey, are you ok?" The guy said, and I looked up at him with tears still streaming down my face. I tried to speak, but no words came out, only more tears feel, causing the guy to hand me a tissue. "Is it family?" he asked, and I nodded, wiping my eyes with the tissue he have me._

 _"My sister" I replied, before a sob worked it's way free from my body, the man handing me another issue. "She's got cancer, and I can't afford to pay for the treatment, so the doctors won't help her. How fucked up is that" I said, causing him to nod slowly._

 _"How much do they want?" he asked, as he handed me another tissue, which I blew my nose on._

 _"About $30,000, maybe more" I answered, breaking down even further._

 _"You know, I could pay for your bills" the man said, and my head shot up to him._

 _"You would?" I asked, a small sliver of hope working it's way free._

 _"Well, not for free. You'll have to work off your debt for me, but yeah, I'd be willing you help you out" he replied, causing me to nod in hope._

* * *

"I was so desperate James, and he was offering to help my sister get better, so I jumped at the chance, not thinking twice about it. I was just so grateful that someone was being kind enough to help out me and my family, that I didn't even consider what it meant"

"Oh Kendall" James said, causing the blond to nod slightly, knowing that James knew what was coming next.

"He paid the $30,000 to the hospital right then and there, and the hospital promised they'd begin treatment as soon as possible, but it wasn't enough. After about 3 weeks of Chemo, Katie's immune system was so weak, and she got the common cold. There was nothing the hospital could do, and she died while I was sat right next to her. Of course, just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, the man that paid for my medical bills returned, saying that it was time for me to start paying him back. I was grieving so badly, but when I tried to tell him that, he just told me that he didn't care and that 'a deal was a deal' so I didn't have any choice besides how I wanted to pay him back. I had the choice between prostitution and racing, so I chose racing, and I've been doing it ever since. When I finally earned by $30,000, I remember returning to them and asking if my debt was done, but the guy shook his head, saying that the money I'd just given him didn't even cover the interest on the first payment.

I was such a fool James, but I just wanted my sister to be ok, and now I'm forever indebted to the Crime Boss. I met up with Lucy a few races after that, and she kind of took me under her wing. Everyone who races is in a similar situation, yet she seemed to sympathise with me instead of just being a dick. A little after that, we started to find the others, who are all in a similar situation to mine. Carlos was bailed out of prison for committing petty theft in a pharmacy. He was only trying to get some tablets to help his mother but now he owes the Crime Boss. We've all got our reasons, and it's why we share all the money we earn instead of keeping it to ourselves. We're never going to pay our debt back anyway, so we might as well be paying off an equal amount"

"I'm so sorry Kendall. I had no idea" James said, causing Kendall to shrug, as he wiped his eyes again.

"It's alright, it was only fair that you knew what the money was for" the blond replied, glancing up at James, who held such sympathy in his eyes. Kendall didn't know whether it was the fact that he'd just told James one of his darkest secrets, or whether it was because he saw that the brunet held no judgement towards him and his choices, but Kendall found himself comfortable in James' arms. The two of them sat there in silence for a few seconds as James took in everything Kendall had told him, and when the blond finally looked up at James, the brunet couldn't help but see how darkened Kendall's once vibrant eyes had become.

"Thank you for telling me that. I know how difficult it was for you to tell me" the brunet said as he stared into Kendall's eyes.

"I trust you James, and I thought it was only fair that you knew" Kendall replied, staring back at James. The blond could see the small glint that the hazel eyes held, and Kendall couldn't help it when his eyes dropped down to the brunet's mouth. He didn't know if it was because of his proximity to the brunet, but Kendall felt all of his restrain slip away, and in a split second decision, Kendall pressed his lips against James.

The brunet gasped at the sudden attack, but once the surprise had gone, James returned the kiss with as much passion as Kendall was putting into it. The moment was far from perfect, with James being able to taste the salt on Kendall's lips from where the tears had fallen, but the two of them didn't care, as they finally let out weeks' worth of pent up emotion towards each other.

Kendall's hands roamed James' chest, the blond being able to feel the abs that James hid under his t-shirt but before the two of them could go any further, they were interrupted by the sound of James' phone ringing. The two of them jumped at the sound, separating slightly before James began to fumble about to grab the disruptive device from his pocket. One glance at the screen caused the brunet to let out a groan, one that Kendall raised his eyebrow at.

"I'm so sorry, I really have to take this" the brunet said, already feeling guilty over the fact that he was leaving Kendall after such an emotional evening. "But I promise, we can pick up where we left off the next time I see you, ok?"

"Ok" Kendall replied, letting out a disheartened sigh.

"Hey" James said, his fingers resting below Kendall's chin so that he could make sure the blond was looking up at him. "I wouldn't go if I didn't have to, I promise. And for the record, I like you"

"I like you too" the blond replied, causing a small blush to grow on James' face as he placed one last kiss onto Kendall's lips before climbing off the bonnet of the mustang and walking back to the Audi. With the door shut, and the engine started, James reversed out of the space before putting the earphone into his ear.

"Someone better be dying" the brunet said into it, as he placed the Audi into first gear and pulled away from the waterfall and the blond.

"You best get back here now. With the story that Kendall just told, Gustavo is planning a raid on the base. He's convinced that Kendall now has the means, motive and opportunity for committing all those murders"

"I'm on my way" James replied, revving the engine of the Audi as he put his foot down in order to get back to the station as soon as possible.

If the evening had taught James anything, it was that Kendall certainly wasn't a killer.

* * *

 **So there we have it, Kendall's tragic past has finally been revealed, as well as the reason why he has to race! Like I said, this chapter ended up being a lot longer than I expected it to be, but I wanted to tell the whole story in one chapter instead of splitting it into two, so let me know what you think! Also, we got the reveal at the end of the chapter that Gustavo is planning a raid on the garage, so how do we think James is going to react to this!**

 **I want to say a massive thank you to Winterschild11, Guest, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter and I'm so glad you enjoyed it! You all seem to think that this is going to end badly and that Kendall's feeling are going to hurt, which of course, I have no comment on, but I really hope that you enjoyed the small bout of Kames that I gave you! I really don't want to say much here as the next couple of chapters are a turning point for this story!**

 **Anyway, thank you all so much for your kind words anyway, and I hope you are having a great week! I will see you on Monday for the next chapter of Blizzard, but until then,**

 **TTFN 😃🚗**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hi Guys and welcome back to Rush & Response! I'm sorry for the lat upload, but like I said, my life has been a little hectic lately! Anyway, it's here now, so let's crack on, shall we?**

* * *

James raced back to the police station, with him concentrating as hard as he would have done if this was a usual race. When he finally arrived back at the station, he practically abandoned the Audi in the underground parking lot, taking up about three spaces by the time he jumped out of the car and into the lift. It was safe to say that the brunet was slightly pissed at what was happening, especially with Gustavo planning it without James' consent.

It wasn't as if Gustavo needed James' consent, with him being James' superior and all, but Gustavo didn't know the case inside and out like James did, so James would have appreciated the ability to have some sort of input on this decision. The brunet let out a groan. His brain was racing a million miles an hour at this point, proving himself both right and wrong, but when the lift doors finally opened, and he saw the captain giving people orders, he couldn't help but see red slightly. James stormed out of the lift, watching as Gustavo walked back into his office and brunet was on his heels as they stepped through the door.

"Detective," Gustavo said, walking about his desk to sit in his seat, James stood opposite him with his hand on his hip.

"What the hell captain! I thought we agreed that we'd follow my approach on this!" James said, trying to keep his tone in check, knowing that this still was his superior that he was speaking to. "And then I find you that you've ordered a raid on the crew's garage"

"We agreed that we'd follow your approach unless there's anything that links Kendall to these murders, and after that little confession of his, we have everything we need"

"You can't be serious! The poor guy has lost his mum and his sister, and now you're branding him as a murderer as well? That's ridiculous!"

"Kendall Knight has the means, motive and the opportunity to commit all of these murders, detective. _You_ discovered the type of car that was used and then _you_ found a damaged version of that car within their garage. _You_ then found out that they have the same type of tires used for the murders and finally, _you_ were able to discover why Kendall is collecting money, something that links him directly to the crime boss. Because of _you_ , detective, we have the means, motive and the opportunity, like I said because, and this raid is based on _your_ evidence. So, don't come in here telling me what I can't do, detective, as I am only acting off of what you have discovered."

"All those things don't mean that Kendall is the killer! You can't just go in there and arrest him in front of them all-"

"I'm not, I'm going to arrest them all" Gustavo interrupted, stunning James into silence slightly. "You're right detective, all of those things don't mean that Kendall is the killer, but it means that someone within that crew is. All of them in that garage have access to the tires and the challenger, and all of them would have had the opportunity to get out during the nights of the murders, hence why this raid is going ahead." Gustavo stated, causing James to let out a sigh.

Gustavo was technically right with all of this and like he'd stated, it was James who brought off of this evidence to him, so what did James have to argue back with? The feeling in his gut?

"Still, something just doesn't feel right with it. I know these people, and there's something about them that's telling me they aren't doing it" James replied, running his hands through his hair. "Plus, if this raid goes wrong, and one of them isn't the murderer, then my cover is completely blown, and this whole operation goes bust. They're not going to trust another outsider if you're wrong, so you best be sure on this"

"It's your evidence that's being used, detective, so you're neck on the line if we're wrong" Gustavo replied, James' anger rising relatively quickly at his statement. Still, the brunet took a deep breath, while running his hands through his hairs.

"I'm not the one who's authorising this raid captain, you are, so I'll be damned if you're staking my career on this," James stated, his tone as calm as it could possibly be during a situation like this. If anything, James was proud that he was managing to keep himself from exploding. "And I still don't think this is the right call to make. These people aren't murderers"

"These 'people', detective, have every single piece of evidence pointing to them, and I'd expect you, as an upholder of the law, to see that. This is no different to the drugs case you solved back in New York, and yet, you've been blinded to that! Report home detective, I'm taking you off the case for tonight, and I want you to return tomorrow with your shit together. You need to remember what is actually important here, bringing order back to the streets of Hyperion Falls by bringing down the Crime Boss and all his affiliates, or your pseudo-relationship with one of the prime suspects on this case" Gustavo concluded, standing up from his chair to make a point.

When James had very little to say back, Gustavo found himself straightening his jacket before making his way back to the door. Before he left however, he added one more thing. "This raid will be going ahead tomorrow, with or without you on this case. I never thought I'd have to have this conversation with you, especially after all the shit that went down in New York." The captain finished, shaking his head as he finally left the room, leaving James alone with his thoughts.

Without thinking about it, the brunet found himself kicking the bin in Gustavo's office over, anger bubbling within him that the chief would bring up such a triggering topic for James. With a deep breath, to try and regain a small assemblage of control, James paced through the workspace, trying his best to ignore the sly looks that he was getting with everyone questioning what all the shouting was about in Gustavo's office.

Still, James held his head high as he got into the lift, and after hopping into the Audi once he was back in the underground car park, James began his journey home, the brunet trying his best not to let any of his emotions surface at the moment.

* * *

By the time James got back to his apartment, he couldn't help but collapse onto his sofa, his mind completely reeling with everything that was going on. Looking at it completely objectively, Gustavo was right. Kendall and his crew all had the means, motive and opportunity to pull off those murders. Kendall even admitted it himself, everyone in that crew is somehow indebted to the Crime Boss, and therefore they've had to do anything that they were told in order to pay back said debt. As well as that, Carlos even admitted to him that they had a damaged dodge challenger in the garage, a night after the murder of Councilman Richards, and James also saw them fit the cars with the special tires that were being used to commit the murders.

Gustavo was right, all the evidence was pointing to someone in that garage committing the murders, so why couldn't James accept that? The brunet let out a sigh as he pulled himself up from the sofa before making his way into the kitchen where he started to brew a coffee. His gut was telling him the complete opposite of everything Gustavo was, so James was feeling massively conflicted about all of this, something he'd never felt on a case before. Every single time, James could solve the case, looking at it objectively as he reviewed and collected every piece of evidence, but this time was different. James had gotten close to the suspects, and his once objective view was now subjective, with him letting his personal relationships get in the way of justice. And that's not even mentioning how the brunet felt about Kendall. The coffee machine dinged, distracting James briefly as he poured his coffee into a mug before making his way back over to the sofa, this time the brunet slouching into it.

It was definitely fair to say that his relationship with Kendall had gotten completely out of hand and had gone beyond what the case allowed, and yet for once, James didn't seem to care about that. With James' last boyfriend, James still put the case before him which caused a massive rift between them, but this time James felt like he could put Kendall before the case, and he was doing. All James could think about at the moment was warning Kendall about the oncoming police raid, but that completely went against everything that he stood for. Ever since the incident in New York, James had also put justice above all else so how the hell had Kendall managed to make him have a different outlook on it all. Another sigh escaped James' mouth, this time followed by a sip of coffee.

Gustavo was right. James really did need to get his shit sorted out. All James had to figure out was what shit that would be, the baggage he still carried with him from New York or the fact that he was starting to sympathise with the suspects.

James was certainly in for a long night.

* * *

When James walked back into the station the next morning, he was greeted with everyone getting ready for the raid, with them checking their guns to make sure that everything was alright, as well as equipping body armour to make sure they were protected. James headed straight for Gustavo's office, and after knocking on the door, he walked in.

"Detective," Gustavo said, making very little eye contact with the brunet as he filled out some paperwork.

"Reporting for duty sir, where's my stuff?" James asked, causing Gustavo to let out a little chuckle before looking up at James.

"You're not coming on this raid detective. You're a liability in your current state, and we don't need anything going wrong while we're out there. The last thing we need is for you to facilitate the escape of one of your 'friends'" Gustavo replied, causing James' anger to flare once again. Still, the brunet managed to keep it under check as he replied.

"I can assure you captain, that I am fully committed to this case, and I'd never do anything to jeopardise that"

"Good, then you'll follow orders and wait here until we get back with the suspects in custody. Since you know them so well, you'll be involved with interrogating them. That way, you'll be able to tell when they're lying" Gustavo concluded, before pushing himself up from the seat. "Is that clear, detective?"

"Yes Sir" James replied, causing Gustavo to nod before he walked out of his office, and into the workspace.

"Let's get moving men!" the captain shouted, everyone nodding as James walked into the workspace.

"This must be killing you," a voice said from beside him, causing James to turn and see Jett grinning at him. "Being taken off of your own case and then not being involved in the raid. Maybe you're not as good as I expected" James let out a low growl at Jett's words, the man grinning at the fact that he'd managed to piss James off, but before the brunet could respond, another voice spoke up.

"Or maybe James isn't going on the raid because he's too valuable to lose if things go sideways. Better to send in the cannon fodder now, and save the actual detective to do the proper work later" Camille said, causing Jett to growl this time at her words.

"Detective Stetson, let's go!" Gustavo shouted across the room, causing Jett to skulk away from the conversation, clearly pissed off at Camille's words.

"Thanks for that. I was about 10 seconds away from decking him" James said, causing Camille to let out a little chuckle.

"Now I'm regretting intervening" Camille replied, causing a small smirk to grow on James' face. "Come on, we can watch the raid from my work computer. I'm set up so I have a live feed from all of their body cams. It won't be the same as actually being there, but at least we'll be able to see what's going on" she continued, patting James on the back slightly before she headed back to her desk, James following closely behind. When they'd got there, James pulled up a second chair, the screen just showing them all travelling to the garage.

"I still don't know about this Camille, something just seems off" James began, one hand rubbing his forehead. "I mean, ok, I accept that all the evidence we've collected is pointing us to them, but surely if they were committing the murders, then I wouldn't have found the evidence so quickly. I mean, Carlos practically announced the fact that their dodge challenger was damaged, and yet if they were committing the murders, they wouldn't want anyone to know. They'd try to hide the damaged car, so it couldn't be traced back to them" James rambled out loud, Camille kind enough to listen. "And sure, they all have a motive to commit these murders, but none of them seem the type. My gut is telling me that we're wrong, and if I've learnt anything over the years, it's to trust my gut." James sighed. "Am I just going crazy? Have I let them get into my head?"

"I don't think I can answer that James" Camille replied, placing a hand on James' knee for reassurance. "All I know is that we've got the evidence to suggest it is them, and yet the person that has collected that evidence is doubting it's trustworthiness. With all our other cases, I bet you've always been completely solid with your evidence, and you've never had a problem before, so what does that suggest if you're not concrete with this lot"

"Thanks Camille," James said, causing a small smile to grow on her face.

"No worries partner, and just so you know, I was completely against this raid as well. I tried to talk Gustavo out of it, but he wouldn't listen, instead saying we've been working on it too long without any reward. There's not much you can do when he gets like this, so I just hope he doesn't blow the case for us completely"

"Amen to that" James replied, causing Camille to let out a little chuckle before the people on the bodycams started to speak up.

The two of them listened as Gustavo began to give out orders, with him stating that they should not fire unless fired upon and that they've only got one chance at this, so they better make it count. He started to order everyone into position, and once he'd gotten the go ahead that everyone was where they needed to be, he gave the go ahead.

James watched from 5 different angles as the garage doors were kicked in, and police started to fill the place, working their way through the building. Lucy was the first to be seen, with officers kicking down the door to the office where she was working.

"Hey, who are you, what is this!" She demanded, James watching as one of the officers pulled her from the chair and put her hands behind her back as they arrested her. The couple officers that split off to the breakroom kicked the door in to reveal Logan sitting there on his computer. He completely froze at their presence, with them lifting him from the seat as well before arresting him.

James then watched as the officers in the garage itself then encountered Dak, with the brunet working under a car with some headphones in. It wasn't until the officers pulled the dolly out from under the car that Dak knew what was going on, and he was quick to surrender as well, although he didn't really have a say in the matter. Kendall and Carlos were the last two to get arrested, and as if to rub salt into the wound a little more, those two were caught working on the dodge challenger, that was stored further back in the garage.

The two of them were also shocked by what was happening, although they to surrendered pretty quickly, with Kendall shouting much like Lucy did. "Who the hell are you, and what are you doing in our garage."

"Kendall Knight, Carlos Garcia, you're under arrest for suspected murder" Gustavo began, but Kendall was quick to interrupt.

"Murder?" the blond asked, but went ignored as Gustavo continued to read off their rights.

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in court. You have the right to talk to a lawyer for advice before we ask you any questions. You have the right to have a lawyer with you during questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you wish. If you decide to answer questions now without a lawyer present, you have the right to stop answering at any time."

"I'm also entitled to a phone call!" Kendall began, as he and Carlos were walked out of the building, Gustavo ordering his men to search the place. "And I want to call James Diamond! He'll sort this out!"

"Oh, just you wait, you'll be seeing James pretty soon" Gustavo replied, the last thing James seeing was Kendall's disheartened face as he was forced into the back of a police car.

"I'm fucked" James mumbled under his breath, his head in his hands as he imagined what was to come next.

* * *

 **So there we have it, James was unable to stop the police raid and everyone is being pulled in for questioning! This certainly doesn't bode well for them all!**

 **I'd like to give a massive thank you to Winterschild11, Guest, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter and I'm so glad you liked it! You all seemed to agree that Kendall had it pretty rough and that you all feel sorry for him, although I don't know if I've ever been called evil so many times. I think that's a new record, with 9 times in one review 😜. Don't worry as well, we will be getting a bit of James' backstory next time, now that everything is going to pot!**

 **I will see you all on Monday for the next chapter of Blizzard, and I hope you've all had a good week! But until then,**

 **TTFN 😃🚗**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hi Guys and welcome back to Rush and Response! I'm so excited to get this chapter to you all, so let's crack on shall we?**

* * *

James was pacing as they waited for Gustavo and everyone to return to the station, James completely freaking out. Never before had been so nervous to interrogate a witness but this wasn't just any witness, it was Kendall.

"James, just try to stay calm" Camille said, still sat at her desk, watching as the convoy of police cars got closer on the monitor.

"I can't, I'm freaking out slightly" James tried, finally stopping in front of her and facing her, his hands running through his hair. "If Kendall or anyone in that crew aren't the killer, then this investigation is fucked. There's no way I'm going to be able to get in after I've interrogated them."

"Are you sure that's all this is about? The case?" Camille asked, James' eyes widening before his eyebrows furrow together.

"Yes, Camille, that's all this is about" James replied, blatantly lying, something they both knew he was doing. James really didn't need to be thinking about his…personal feeling for Kendall at the moment because that would make the situation so much worse. No, James just needed to focus on the case and what a fuckery that had become.

"They're just pulling into the garage now"

"Thanks Camille" James replied, causing the brunet girl to nod.

"No problem partner" she replied, causing a small smile to grow on James' face. Both of them knew that James wasn't thanking her for the garage information, it was for the last 20 minutes where James had done nothing but subjected her to his rambling about how fucked he and everything else was.

Now, however, the waiting game began, with James planting himself down into the seat he was sat in before, as he waited for Kendall and the crew to be processed and moved to a cell. That wouldn't take too long, which meant that any minute now, Gustavo would be telling James which interrogation room to go into, something that James was completely unprepared for, both mentally and physically.

What questions would he ask, how is Kendall going to respond to his ultimate betrayal, and whether he should be good cop or bad cop where some of the frequent questions floating about his brain, but luckily, or maybe unluckily, he was snapped out of his thoughts when the lift door finally opened, revealing Gustavo who had a massive grin on his face.

"I'm guessing you saw the raid?" he asked, causing both Camille and James to know. "Then you'll know it was successful. All 5 of them are in custody, and the Challenger has been seized as part of the evidence. We also found some drugs in the back of Kendall's car"

"Drugs?" James asked, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up slightly. "What type?"

"We're not sure, but there seemed to be quite a few. I'm guessing cocaine, heroin, maybe some cannabis as well" Gustavo shrugged, while James' heart dropped. "Anyway, he's waiting in interrogation room one. The rest are in the holding cell, and once Kendall has been interrogated, he'll be separated so he can't warn the others about you. Now head down there detective, and finally solve this case."

"Yes sir" James replied, obviously disheartened, although Gustavo didn't take any note of it. Nodding to the two of them once more, the captain made his way back to his office, leaving James and Camille alone again.

"Hey, you ok?" Camille asked, causing James to nod as he pulled himself from the seat.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine" James replied, the air stretching into silence for a few seconds after he spoke. "I…um…I should get down there" the brunet continued, causing Camille to nod as James finally walked away.

The drugs announcement had completely thrown him, and with flash backs to New York occurring, James knew that this interrogation was going to get a lot harder than it already was.

* * *

As James walked into interrogating room one, he saw how the blond's eyes lit up for a second.

"Oh James, thank god! They wouldn't let me have my phone call, but I'm glad you're here" the blond began, James' heart dropping slightly as he took the seat opposite Kendall. It took the blond a few seconds to realise what was going on, but James knew what it had clicked, as Kendall's eyes darkened with anger. "Oh, you have got to be shitting me" the blond began, ramming one of his fists onto the table. "Seriously, what the fuck is going on" As the blond spoke, James placed all the pieces of evidence down into the table. "Are you actually here to interrogate me? Is that really what's going on?"

"Yes" James replied, wiping his hand across his forehead. "I was sent to infiltrate the street racing circuit, in the hopes to bring down the Crime Boss."

"And I was the unlucky bugger who let you in huh?"

"You were the first racer, I saw yes" James replied, causing Kendall to let out a long sigh as he leant back in his chair.

"Fuck me. I really fell for it huh. The whole thing you had going on." The blond continued, waving his hand at James in reference. The room fell into silence at that, James' guilty feeling returning with full force as he tried to think of something to say that wouldn't make this situation any worse that it already was. Before James could say anything however, Kendall spoke up again. "I really trusted you, you know that right? I really thought that you were there to help us out, and that's why I told you my story. I wanted you to know that everything you were doing wasn't in vain, and that it was actually really helpful for quite a lot of us, but I guess I fucking wrong to believe that. I bet you were fucking ordered to do whatever the fuck you needed to do to get the information you needed from us, so congratu-fucking-lations, you did its James" Kendall now started to clap his hands in sarcasm. "You've arrested 5 completely innocent people."

"You're not exactly innocent, street racing is still a crime, one that the lot of you have committed a lot" James began, causing Kendall to roll his eyes. "And yes, I was ordered to do whatever it takes to get information on the case. The Crime Boss is a serious threat to this city, so it's imperative that we bring him down."

"Oh, and the fastest way to do that was through my pants huh?" Kendall snapped back, the room now descending into complete silence as Kendall stared at James, waiting for his response. James on the other hand, was shocked into silence at Kendall's bluntness, and he felt how his throat dried up. With nothing leaving James' mouth, Kendall continued. "That whole make-out session on my car, and the whole 'I wouldn't be leaving if I didn't have to' bullshit, was that what that was about?" Kendall asked again, James swallowing to try and clear the massive lump in his throat as Kendall leant forward.

This time, James noticed how Kendall's eyes were filled with a little plead, almost like he was asking James to deny it. Still, no matter what the brunet tried to say on the matter, the words just wouldn't form, causing him to take a deep breath as he opened the first evidence folder.

"Can you tell me about your relationship with the Crime Boss" was all James could say, causing Kendall to shake his head as he leant back in his seat, before taking a deep breath.

"What the fuck does that mean, my 'relationship' with them?" the blond asked, James being slightly grateful that Kendall hadn't commented on his lack of response.

Pulling out the transcript from the discussion on the car, James turned it around to show Kendall as he began to speak. "You said, and I quote 'When I finally earned the $30,000, I remember returning to them and asking if my debt was done, but the guy shook his head.' Is that common? You do often return to them and speak to them?"

"Fuck me, that's like a proper transcript, let me look at that" Kendall said, grabbing the piece of paper as he began to read through it by himself. "God, even I don't remember saying half this stuff. You must have a fucking good memory for you to rush home to still remember it…unless" Kendall let out a massive groan, leaning further back into the chair. "The fucking car's bugged. Fuck me, I can't believe I didn't even think about that. I mean, it makes sense as you why you were so protective over it. I mean, I thought that you were just some perfectionist neat freak who wanted to make sure that everything was in the right place, but now this all makes sense. While you were 'infiltrating' our little crew, somebody was recording everything that was said, keeping a track of us. God, you really got us good. Seriously, I mean, if I weren't so pissed at you, I'd probably be impressed."

"Can you please just answer the question?" James asked, causing Kendall to shake his head at he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Why don't you shove your fucking question. I'm not going to answer any of them, until I get a lawyer, although I suppose in my case, that only makes me look more guilty" the blond replied, causing James to let out another sigh as he rubbed his forehead. Still, that didn't stop Kendall from continuing. "You know, less than 24 hours ago, I genuinely thought that something could happen between the two of us. I mean, I fucking admitted that I liked you, like some fucking love struck child, but now I've realised that you're just another prick, who this time, is trying to charge me with a fucking murder that I didn't commit. Well, let me just say, fuck you James. Fuck you so much, you fucking asswipe"

That caused James to push himself up from the table, trying not to let Kendall's words get to him. Collecting the evidence that he'd laid on the table, James turned and walked to the door.

"That's it, fuck off! And while you're at it, why don't you take a long walk off a short fucking pier!" Kendall shouted, causing James to slam the door behind him.

Taking a deep breath, James felt a small prickle at the back of his eyes, but he didn't let it get to him, instead walking into the room where Gustavo was watching through the one-sided mirror.

"It's not going very well at all is it" the captain began, causing James to roll his eyes at the statement, the two of them watching as Kendall started to lean back on his chair, the front two legs coming up off the floor.

"I just need 15 minutes with him, with no one watching and the cameras off, and I'll have something to show from it."

"What the hell are you thinking of doing Detective" Gustavo asked, and James knew exactly what the captain was referring to. Rolling his eyes, James replied.

"Definitely not what you're thinking. If it helps, the cameras can stay on, but no audio. I can get him to talk"

"I don't know Detective. If we get a confession, I want it on video."

"15 minutes, and we'll get what we need" James replied, turning to Gustavo with the evidence clutched under his arm, his face filled with determination.

"Fine" Gustavo conceded, as he let out a sigh. "I'll make sure this room is off limits and that the cameras aren't recording sound. But if the 15 minutes are up, and you still haven't gotten anything, someone else will take over." He continued, causing James to nod, the two of them leaving the room.

With a new found determination, James re-entered the room with Kendall in.

* * *

"I thought I told you to fuck off" Kendall began, bringing the front of his chair back down to the ground.

"Will you just shut the fuck up and let me speak" James replied, placing the evidence back onto the table as he took a seat.

"Let you speak, you're trying to get me fucking arrested for murder!"

"Actually, if you'd let me speak for 5 fucking seconds, you'd realise that I'm trying to do the opposite of that"

"Well, you're not doing a very good job then are you" Kendall replied, his eyebrow raised causing James to roll his eyes.

"It didn't help that you were practically throwing evidence in my face" James snapped, causing Kendall to lean back slightly, an inquisitive look on his face as James reached into one of the evidence folders. "On the 16th, Councilman Richards was being driven home when his car came under attack. Unfortunately, Councilman Richards died during the crash, but his driver survived and was rushed into hospital. When given the chance to interview him, I learnt that the car used was a Dodge Challenger, although he didn't know what colour it was" James began, sliding over the transcript of the conversation he had with Mr Stevens, the driver. "Then, when I return to the garage on the 17th, Carlos admitted to me that the Dodge Challenger you own had been damaged the night before, with him staying that Logan damaged it while practising to drift"

"Well, Logan did damage it while learning to drift" Kendall interrupted, as James slid over the transcript of the conversation he had with Carlos.

"Whatever the case, can you see why you've been arrested? There are a certain tire being used to commit the murders, one that you put onto your vehicles while taking part in Waterway Rivalries, and you admitted that you were indebted to the Crime Boss, which means that you'd have to do what he asks in order to pay that off. This is why you've been arrested"

"But all of this is completely circumstantial." Kendall replied, reaching forward to grab some transcripts to read through them. "Logan did damage the car while learning how to drift, I even have a copy of the video we took while shows him doing it. The fact that I'm indebted to the Crime Boss also applies to every single racer and every racer has those tires. Everyone uses them for Waterway Rivalries, but since the tires are classed as illegal, you can't have them on display."

"This is what I'm trying to provide, that you didn't do it" James said once again, letting out a small sigh. "You said you have a video of Logan damaging the car?" he asked, causing Kendall to nod. "It's a start. It won't prove that you're completely innocent, but our technical staff will be able to tell if it's doctored or not, so it can act as a basis. I'm also going to need solid alibis from everyone which prove that it wasn't anyone in the crew" James finished, causing Kendall to look at him with his eyebrow raised.

"Why are you trying to help us?" Kendall asked, causing James to tilt his head slightly in confusion.

"What?"

"Why are you trying to help us? You're a cop, and you said it yourself, we're criminals because we street race, so why would you want to clear our names. Surely, it'd get you a promotion if you bagged 5 street racers" Kendall repeated, causing James to let out a sigh, rubbing his forehead as he spoke.

"It isn't your fault that you're in this position. I know what it's like when you're desperate to save a loved one. You'll do anything to make sure that they're ok" James began, Kendall raising his eyebrow at the brunet. "Since you trusted me, I might as well trust you" the brunet continued, letting out a sigh as he leaned back in his seat. "I left New York because it was a constant reminder of my family. I was a uniformed officer at the time, and I was working on the Barrios cartel case. They were the biggest drug dealers within New York, but they always seemed to escape the police grasp. Anyway, one day I was working in the station, filing some paperwork when I remember my radio going off. There had been a shootout, in Times Square of all places, between the Barrios and another smaller cartel in the city. They had a disagreement about their 'borders' and just started to open fire, both vying for control. About 50 civilians were caught in the crossfire, so any officers that could respond were told to get to the scene as soon as possible, and I was one of them. When I got there, the first arriving officers had already cleared the scene, with a lot of the cartel members fleeing when the police arrived. But, there were a lot of causalities, and one of them was…it was my mum." James wiped the tears that started to form in his eyes. "After that, I threw myself into my work and I didn't stop until I'd found and brought down the Barrios cartel. I pushed away everyone that cared for me, and I didn't stop at anything, even when it meant sacrificing something else in my life. So yeah, I know why you did what you did, and if I can help you get out of that position, then I'd like to try"

"James, I'm so sorry" Kendall replied, causing James to shake his head as he continued to wipe the tears that had formed in his eyes.

"10 innocent civilians have been killed in these 'accident', including a family with two kids, and I want to stop anyone else from getting hurt, which means I need to find who's really behind it. That's why I'm helping you Kendall" James finished, causing the room to descend into silence for a few minutes as Kendall took everything he'd heard in.

Finally, with a deep breath, he spoke again. "I'll answer any questions you have, so long as you can promise that you'll prove that we're innocent."

"I'll try" James replied, causing a small smile to grow on Kendall's face.

"Then we have a deal" the blond said, causing James to nod, wiping the few strays tears left before taking a deep breath and launching into his first question.

* * *

 **So there we have it! James was sent to interrogate Kendall, and we learnt that James is trying to prove that Kendall and the crew are in fact innocent instead of guilty. We also got a little bit of James' backstory, and it seems for the moment that Kendall has decided to work with James. Do we think that's going to continue for long?**

 **I want to say a massive thank you to Guest, Winterschild11, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter, and I'm so glad that you enjoyed it! You all agree that Gustavo is an idiot and James has practically made it his purpose to prove Gustavo wrong, so I think you'll all be happy to hear that! We'll get the rest of the 'interrogation' in the next chapter, so don't worry, we have a lot to come!**

 **Anyway, I hope you're all having a good week, and I will see you on Monday for the next chapter of Blizzard! But until then,**

 **TTFN 😃🚗**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hi Guys, and welcome back to Rush & Response! Like I said in Blizzard, thank you guys so much for being patient with me, and let's crack on with this shall we?**

* * *

"Ok, so firstly, I want to know why there were drugs in your car." James began, sorting through the evidence before the found the photo that he was looking for and placed it in front of Kendall. "Apparently, there were traces of cocaine, heroin and cannabis in your boot" James finished, causing Kendall to let out a sigh as he sat upright in his seat, making sure he was comfortable while also looking down at the table.

"I was supposed to deliver them to a dealer in East Friar" Kendall replied, his eyes shifting between James and the table. "I…I get set tasks to complete from the Crime Boss, but I never actually see the man in person. I just get told that I'm supposed to go to one location, collect the drugs and deliver them to someone else, and that every time I do that, it helps pay off a little bit of the debt that I've collected. That's about the extent of my 'relationship' with the man." Kendall explained, answering James question from earlier as well.

"And is it usually drug runs?"

"All of the ones that I've gotten are" Kendall replied, causing James to raise his eyebrow at the blond. "I've heard rumours that people get tasked with a lot of different things, almost like there's ranking. The more tasks that you complete, and the more the Crime Boss trusts you, the more you get asked and the more of your debt gets paid. But, I don't know if that's true or not" the blond finished, causing James to nod as he made notes of what Kendall was saying.

It was definitely fitting in with the pattern that the police force had uncovered.

"And is anyone else in your crew completing any of these tasks?" James asked, causing Kendall to shrug.

"I don't actually know, although it could be entirely possible that they are. Every time we get a mission, we're told to keep it a secret, with them saying that the more people who know about it, the more likely we are to get caught, either by the police or by them. Mostly out of fear, I've never told anyone about the tasks because I don't want anything to happen"

"Who's them? You keep mentioning 'them,' but you haven't said who they are"

"That's because I don't know. It's always a different person every time, and they never tell me anything, other than my mission. My guess is that they're the Crime Boss' minions like the guy in the hospital but I'm not actually sure. For all I know, they're another person indebted to the Crime Boss, and they're just doing what they're told." Kendall said, causing James to nod.

"And where do you normally pick up these collections. Are they from a back alley somewhere, or is there a building or warehouse even that you frequently collect them from?"

"Like the person, the location itself changes every time, but it's always somewhere where the street cameras can't see us, either in back alley, or just outside of the city. It's never actually taken place in a building, with the exchanges always being done somewhere where he can rush off if the police, or someone unwanted turn up" Kendall replied, James nodding once again as he wrote down what Kendall was saying.

"And do you know what drugs are being transported, or is that kept a secret from you as well?" he asked, causing Kendall to shrug once again, this time moving a small strand of hair off of his face as he did so.

"I'm never explicitly told what drugs they are, only where to deliver them, but it doesn't take a genius to figure out which drug is which"

"And have you ever taken any?" James questioned, this time the brunet looking up from the paper he was writing on. This question wasn't as much for the case as a personal one. For some reason, James had a burning desire to find out and while the brunet knew why that was, he decided it would be best if he didn't acknowledge it.

"Oh god no. I know what that stuff does to people, and I never wanted any part of it."

"Yet you'll deliver it to someone who will sell it on?" James asked, letting his personal feelings get the better of him for a brief second. As James took a moment to compose himself, Kendall spoke up.

"Look, I'm not proud of what I have to do ok, but I don't really have a choice in the matter. If I don't do it, I'm as good as dead" the blond said, causing James to take a deep breath before he spoke up again, this time gesturing to his notepad.

"Thanks for being honest with me, it'll help me prove your innocence in all of this. What I'm going to need next is a detailed description of where you were on the night of the murders, as well as where all the crew were as well, that way I'll be able to prove that you weren't able to commit it"

"What will you need?" Kendall asked, causing James to flash him a small smile at how preemptive he was being.

"I'll need locations, what time you were there and what time you left, the route you took home, and any notable witnesses that will remember you being there. That way, I'll be able to build a time line which proves that you wouldn't have been able to commit the murders. With the route home, hopefully I'll be able to get street camera footage of you travelling home to use as evidence and the witness statements will back it up"

"I am curious about something" Kendall said, causing James to glance up at him with an eyebrow raised. "Why are you so convinced that we didn't do it?"

"I can feel it in my gut" James replied, letting out a small sigh before he continued. "Being a police officer, you gain the ability to read people quite well, and when I was first introduced to everyone, I didn't get any negative vibes from anyone. Instead, I got the vibe of a…of a family, of a bunch of people that are really close, and are just doing what they can to help" James finished, the room descending into silence as he did so. After a few seconds went by, with them both reflecting on what was said Kendall finally spoke up.

"Thank you" was all he said, a small smile on his face as he did so. James just smiled back at the blond, before, pushing himself up from the table. "I'm going to tell one of the uniformed officers to start collecting alibis from the rest of the crew. That way, it'll get the process in motion" he said, Kendall just nodding as James left the room, leaving Kendall to reflect on what was said.

* * *

Once the orders about collecting alibis from the crew were given to the uniformed officers, James began to make his way back to the room Kendall was in, but he was interrupted along the way.

"I hope you've gotten somewhere Detective" Gustavo's voice spoke up from behind him, causing James to take a deep breath before he spun around.

"I've found out that Kendall has a video on his phone on Logan drifting the dodge challenger and damaging it on the night of the murder, which will provide that that wasn't how their car was damaged, and I've also found out why Kendall had drugs in the back of his car" James replied, causing Gustavo to take a step closer to the brunet.

"You better not be working against me Detective." Gustavo said, his voice slightly threatening but that didn't deter James.

Instead, the brunet took a step closer. "All I'm trying to do is found out who committed these murders, the same as you" James replied, holding his ground against the police chief.

None of them wanted to crumble first, but neither of them were going to give up either. When James saw Gustavo shift back on his heel slightly however, the brunet took that as a sign of success.

"Now if you'll excuse me. I have a suspect to interrogate" James finished, spinning around quickly before walking back to the room Kendall was in.

As he walked in, he saw how the blond was rocking back on his chair, and after a quick glance up at the camera, which James now noted was back to its usual operations, the brunet sat down in his seat again.

* * *

Hours seemed to pass as James and Kendall sat together, with the two of them discussing Kendall's alibis for the nights of the murder. Some of them, like the instance with Logan damaging the Challenger were easier to prove, as Kendall and the rest of the crew were shown in the video shot from Dak, and the IT guys had proven that the video itself hadn't been doctored in any way, proving it authenticity. Others were slightly more difficult to prove, especially on night where Kendall had stated that he was in bed, or at home alone. James was really relying on the building Kendall lived in to have CCTV so that James could prove that Kendall had entered the building at one time, and hadn't left until another.

Of course, the biggest challenge seemed to be getting Kendall to remember what he was doing on the exact day of the murder, as a good few of these had occurred ages ago, even with some of them happening before James had joined the police form. Still, Kendall tried his best to remember what he was doing on the night, and all throughout it, James was being constantly informed that another member of the crew had been questioned for what they were doing on the nights. While James had yet to see what they had said, he knew that in the back of his mind, he was hoping that they'd all match up. So, as the two of them finished up, James saw how Kendall leaned back on his chair once again.

"So, is that it?" the blond asked, causing James to nod.

"That's it. I'll obviously have to get the evidence to support what you're saying before it comes actual evidence to the fact that you haven't committed the murders, but the questioning is finished"

"So, I'm free to go?" Kendall asked, this time James shaking his head as a response.

"Unfortunately not" The brunet replied, causing Kendall to frown slightly. "Since I don't have the evidence to support what you're saying, you're still seen as a suspect"

"Oh" Kendall said, his eyes casting down to the floor. "So, what happens now then? I'm thrown into a jail cell until I can be proven as guilty"

"Well, I've been working on a plan for that, but I'm not sure if you're going to like it" James replied, causing Kendall to glance up at him. "You were talking about how you need to deliver the drugs right?"

"Right?"

"Well, I was thinking that you…we could still make the delivery" James said, but Kendall was shaking his head.

"No way. The guy would know that something was up, and he'd report it back straight away. It would put me in too much danger"

"I promise you, I wouldn't put you in any danger. I'd get out of the car before the delivery was made, so the guy still thinks it's only you, and it'd would provide us a lead for who the Crime Boss is, and therefore who committed the murders."

"It's…I don't…" Kendall began to think it over. "Can you promise I'll be safe"

"I'll be close to the location, and I can have a group of squad cars in the area within minutes" James replied, causing Kendall to think it over once more.

"I'll only do it this once" the blond states, causing James to nod.

"Deal. Now I just need to talk it over with my boss" the brunet mumbled, rolling his eyes as he said it. Kendall picked up on that, but decided not to question it, as James push himself up from the seat once again. "I'll be back in a second"

"I'll be here" Kendall replied, letting out a small humourless chuckle as he did, one that caused James' heart to break slightly.

As he left Kendall alone in the room once again, James really hoped that Gustavo would agree to his plan.

* * *

As James walked into Gustavo's office, the police chief looked up at him, his eyebrow raised. "I hope you've come in here to tell me you've gotten a confession out of Kendall" he said, causing James to shake his head.

"I've got the opposite actually" The brunet began, placing down a few files onto the police chief's desk. "I've gotten an alibi from him and from the rest of the crew about where they were on the nights of the murders. Some uniformed officers are out now collecting evidence as to whether they're telling the truth or not, so we're just waiting on the results. However, the IT team were able to prove that the video recording on Kendall's phone hadn't been doctored or altered in any way, so it proves that none of them committed the murder on that night and that the Dodge challenger was damaged from Logan learning to drift"

"Still, just because they didn't commit the murders on that night doesn't mean they didn't commit any of the others"

"And that's what the evidence for the alibis is for" James replied, causing Gustavo to let out a sign as he looked up at James.

"Is that why you're here detective? To brag about the fact that you were right?" Gustavo asked, causing a smug look to grow on James' face, at the fact that Gustavo had admitted he was right.

"It isn't actually" James replied, not attempting to hide said smug look.

"I'm here to suggest how we can move forward. I was thinking that I could accompany Kendall on his drugs drop off. That way, it would give us a possible lead on some more people that the Crime Boss has in his employment, as well as the sort of operations that he's running."

"It sounds like a bad idea detective. The drugs uncovered from Kendall's car was a quite a large shipment, and I don't feel comfortable releasing that back out onto the street for the small amount of information that could be gained from it. Besides, there alibis might not check out." Gustavo finished, James raising his eyebrow at the final part of the sentence.

"I have a plan to make sure that the drugs don't get circulated in the city. Firstly, a tracker could be placed into them, so you'll be able to keep track of their location at all times, and secondly, I'll be able to get a description of the dealer. That way, in a couple days' time, the uniformed officers can go in and arrest him without it looking suspicious. This plan will work trust me. We finally have an 'in' on the Crime Boss, and it's best we take advantage of it while we can" James finished, causing Gustavo to let out a sigh. "We have no other leads on this case, and this is the best shot we've got if…"

"Fine" Gustavo interrupted, causing James to go silent with a smile on his face. "I'll keep the others in holding until we get the results back for their alibis. As for Kendall, make sure you keep a close eye on him. We don't want this to be a chance for him to escape, especially if he's committed the murders"

"I will do, don't worry" James replied, before turning to walk out of the office with a smile on his face.

Things were finally looking up again.

* * *

 **So there we have it, a bit of a shorter chapter this time, but it seems like James is working hard to prove their innocence as well as further the case. We can only see where it goes from here!**

 **I want to say a massive thank you to Guest, Winterschild11, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter and I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Kendall was definitely pissed at James, which is perfectly understandable, but you seemed relieved that James managed to calm him down, and you all seem certain that everyone is innocent. I guess we'll have to wait and see! 😜**

 **I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and are having a great week, and I will see you all on Monday for the next chapter of Blizzard! But until then,**

 **TTFN 😃🚗**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hi Guys and welcome back to Rush and Response! I have to admit, I am super buzzing to get this chapter to you, so let's crack on with it shall we?**

* * *

No words could describe the atmosphere of the blue mustang as James and Kendall drove to the drug deal location. James believed that even the word 'awkward' didn't hold enough power to describe it. Tension seemed to roll off of Kendall in waves, despite the fact that he'd also agreed to this, although James didn't think that was the reason.

It was probably due to the fact that Kendall had a known police officer sat next to him, with his gun resting in the passenger side door compartment, and his badge now tucked into the inside pocket of his coat.

Yeah, James knew that was probably the reason.

It even affected the way that Kendall was driving. He was more…reserved now with his actions, less likely to take stupid risks, and he certainly wasn't driving as fast as he usually would. "You don't have to drive-"

"Don't tell me how to drive" Kendall interrupted, not even looking at James as he spoke. They always got very close, with them both looking into the rear view mirror at the same time, but Kendall always refused to make eye contact.

Again, probably due to the cop thing.

"Ok" James said, holding his hands up in defeat. "I just thought that we want this to look as natural as possible if we want this to go off without a hitch"

"Well, it's kinda difficult to consciously break the law when you have a armed police officer sat next to you" Kendall replied, rolling his eyes as he did so.

It was definitely the cop thing.

"We talked about this, I'm trying to help you"

"It's a little hard to trust you when you lied to me for all this time"

That caused James to let out a sigh, as he stared out of the passenger side window. "I thought we talked about this" James replied, this time Kendall letting out a sigh as a response, the blond know feeling guilty about what he'd said.

"I know we did" he began, glancing over at James, who was still looking out of the window. "But look at it from my perspective. I was arrested on a murder charge and then a former…" Kendall paused for a moment, trying to find the right word to describe what they had. "Crew member walks in, and starts to interrogate me. I may understand why you're doing what you're doing but that doesn't mean I have to be happy with it" Kendall let out another sigh as he spoke again. "I mean, you…I can't help but feel like…you used me James. Last night on the car, we…I confessed that I liked you and then to find out this morning that you were actually an undercover cop and that you were told to do whatever you needed to do to get the information you needed, it hurts. It fucking sucks actually, it really fucking sucks" Kendall finished, causing the car to fall into silence, as either of them said anything, James still staring out of the window, although he wasn't really paying attention to what he saw.

Instead, he was in his mind, thinking about how to respond to what Kendall had said.

Thankfully, or in this case probably not so, Kendall spoke up again before James could respond. "We're getting close to the delivery point, so you should probably get out soon"

"It's that alley there?" James asked, finally turning away from the passenger side window to look out the windshield, where he saw the small opening Kendall was talking about. When Kendall only nodded, James spoke up again. "Pull the car over here. I'll use the bins as cover"

Nothing was said in response, but instead Kendall began to slow the car down as he made his way to the pathway on the right side of the road. When the car was fully stopped, James reached for the gun in the door compartment before popping the door open and hopping out of the car.

As the door was shut, the two of them finally shared a brief moment of eye contact and James could see the vulnerability that Kendall was now holding in his eyes. He'd only seen this vulnerability once before, right after Kendall had won their first race against each other, and they'd finally told each other their names. Back then, James didn't understand what it meant, but now, James knew differently.

Kendall was first to break the eye contact, the blond returning his focus back to the task at hand and as the mustang pulled off, James had the split second thought that maybe Kendall had led him to the wrong place. That worry was put aside however when Kendall turned into the alley way, and after taking a deep breath, James followed closely behind, staying low to decrease the risk that anyone could see him.

* * *

Ducking into cover behind one of the bins, James heard Kendall's handbrake come on, followed by a voice.

"You the deliverer?" the guy asked, James trying his best to remain silent and stealthy as he tried to take a look over the bin.

"Yeah, that's me. I got the stuff in the boot" Kendall replied, James watching as the blond nodded his head over towards the back of the car.

The guy rolled his shoulders back threateningly before replying, as if to scare Kendall slightly. "Show me then" he said, his voice rough causing the blond to nod as he turned around, now facing in James' directions.

Their eyes met once again as Kendall began to walk to the boot of the car, and James could see the fear that Kendall held in his eyes. James' heart dropped for him, and his grip on his gun tightened, ready for anything in case shit hit the fan. It seemed however that the dealer noticed Kendall staring off into the distance, causing James to duck back down behind the bin before the dealer could see him.

James was still unable to make out any of his features, due to the lack of light in the alley way, but he knew that everything was riding on getting this guys identity. James heard the boot open, and he took his chance once again, glancing over the top of the bin in order to gain another look at the dealer. This time, he was lit by the red tail lights of the car, but he was still facing away from James, as he counted the contents.

"It'll all here" Kendall reassured, but the guy didn't seem convinced, as he continued his own count. Kendall stood there watching, his nerves at an all time high as he stood patiently, aware of the fact that James had almost already been seen. Still, he was just hoping that nothing would go horribly wrong. The guy said nothing as he turned to the blond once again, this time swinging his bag from over his shoulder.

Half of the guy's face was illuminated from the tail lights, and James determined that that would have to be enough to identify him. Taking out his phone, the brunet reached up over the bin and took a couple of photos, hoping they'd turn out good enough to allow the police to run facial recognition. By the time James glanced over the bin once again, Kendall's boot was shut, and all the drugs were loaded into the guys rucksack.

"The Crime Boss thanks you for your service" the guy said, Kendall nodding at his words before both he and James watched as the guy looked both ways before he began to run from the alley.

Luckily, he ran in the opposite direction of James, so the brunet didn't need to worry about the guy passing him. As soon as he was out of sight, Kendall climbed back into his mustang and reversed it down the alley way enough so that he was next to the bin.

Within a matter of seconds, James was back in the car, Kendall reversing all the way out of the alley before speeding off down the main road and back to the police station.

* * *

"He saw you" was the first thing Kendall said to James as the blond sped down the road. "You were supposed to stay out of sight, and he saw you"

"He didn't see me" James replied, scrolling through his phone at the half lit photos of the dealer, before loading up his text messages.

"He did, I know he did. He started to walk over to the bin where you were hiding and the only reason he didn't make it over there was because I opened the boot to distract him. I'm telling you, if I hadn't done that, he would have found you" Kendall insisted, James rolling his eyes slightly as he clicked onto Camille's name, ready to send the photos through.

"He would have said or done something if he'd had seen me. Why would he continue the deal if he thought that someone was watching?"

"Maybe he was just playing along, and now he's going to report it back to the Crime Boss, and I'm going to be killed" Kendall replied, and James could hear the fear in his voice.

Taking a deep breath, James finally looked over at the blond, who was gripping onto the steering wheel like it was the last thing on Earth. "Kendall" James said, his tone soft and he saw how that managed to relax the blond slightly. "Nothing's going to happen to you, don't worry. I've just sent the photos to my colleague and she's going to work on identifying the man. Once that's done, we'll trace all of the phone calls he makes, and we'll make someone monitoring him on CCTV at all time. If any point, we think that he's going to do something or say something, then we'll arrest him straight away. And if that doesn't happen, he's going to be arrested in a week anyway." Placing his hand onto Kendall's leg to try and comfort the blond, James continued. "So, don't worry. I promised I'm not going to put you in any danger, and I intend to keep that promise."

Kendall stayed quiet after James finished, not saying anything that would give away whether Kendall believed him or not, but when he felt Kendall shift his leg slightly, James knew that he needed to remove his hand.

Hand back on his own lap, James spoke up once again. "So, are you the drug deals like that? Are they all that threatening?"

"Depends on the person, sometimes they're more and sometimes less threatening. It depends on the dealer" Kendall replied, his eyes never leaving the road as he spoke. "Are all your raids like the one we got? Do they always arrest innocent people and wrongfully convict them of crimes" The blond said, causing James to let out a sigh.

"Kendall…"

"What, it was an honest question? I just want to know if our policemen are incompetent or whether it's just the one in this city"

"I didn't want the raid to happen ok? My boss ordered it against my and my colleagues' advice."

"Oh, so you didn't want us arrested. Instead, you wanted to continue playing all of us, and making us believe that you were our friend"

"Kendall…" James sighed, the blond shrugging in his seat.

"What? It's true though isn't it? That's what you wanted to continue to do. Right up until we led you to where you needed to be, and _then_ you'd have us arrested"

"I wasn't going to have you arrested"

"Oh, how nice of you!" Kendall said sarcastically, rolling his eyes as he said it.

"Look, what do you want me to say? Do you want me to apologise for infiltrating your crew? Do you want me to apologise for doing my job?" James asked, noticing that they were just arriving at the front of the police station.

"I want you to acknowledge the fact that you toyed with my emotions to get the information you needed!" Kendall shouted as the car came to a halt. "I want you to acknowledge the fact that you led me on, and flirted with me, like I was just some stupid plaything. You know what? Just get out. Just fuck off James!" Kendall said, leaning over the brunet's body to pull the door handle to pop the door open. "Go on then."

"Kendall…"

"No, don't Kendall me, James. Get out of my car, and get out of my life. I've done my bit, and now I never want to see you again. Go tell your boss that I fulfilled my end of the deal, and that I'm not doing anything else to help him."

"Kendall, don't…"

"Don't?" Kendall interrupted, taking massive offense to whatever James was going to say. "You're telling me don't? How about don't fucking toy with my emotions, and don't fucking use people to get what you need. I bet I'm fucking slut number 7 that you've used to get what you want. Once they can no longer help you with your case, you move onto the next one, all suave and carefree?"

"Suave? I was suave? What about you, and your fucking cocky attitude? Flirting with me, and acting like you were fucking the hottest piece of ass on Earth!"

"Ever think that was an act, because I was fucking terrified? Or does this go back to you being incompetent? I liked you James, and I actually really liked you, and then after what happened on the car last night, I thought you really liked me back"

"I do ok!" James shouted, stunning Kendall into silence as James ran his hair through his hair. "Of course, I fucking do. I mean, how could I not! And after two years of being alone and not seeing myself with anyone, I finally saw myself with you, and fuck, that made me so happy. So, none of that was fucking fake or for the job, that was all real and it was all from me…but I can't Kendall, I can't let myself distracted from my job" James continued, tears now welling in his eyes as he thought back to the events of New York. "My mum wasn't the only one that I lost in the firefight, my…my baby brother was there as well. He'd just finished his first day of kindergarten so my mum was taking him to get an ice cream as a sort of 'well done'" James began, breaking down further as he spoke.

"Fuck, he was only five, Kendall, he was five and when I arrived at the scene, I found him laid next to my mum crying, covered in blood. He'd been shot in the arm, and he was bleeding massively when I got there, and the only thing I could do was hold him in my arms as he bled out. I tried to stop the bleeding, but I was too late. I remember him staring up at me, his eyes red and watery from where he'd been crying and he asked what was the matter with him. I…I told him that everything was going to be ok, and when he asked what happened to mum, I told him that he was going to be with her soon as I didn't know what else to say. I told him I loved him, and he died telling me he loved me back" James was sobbing by this point, Kendall's eyes even watering at the story as James continued to talk. "So, yeah, I can't give this up. I have to make sure that no one else gets hurt. I need to make sure that no more innocent kids die because of some stupid fucking reason like drug dealers arguing over their 'territory' or because some Crime Boss thinks it's acceptable to have people killed because they don't play by his rules. This city isn't fucking his and someone needs to show him that" James said, taking a deep breath as he wiped the tears from his eyes.

"James…" Kendall said, reaching his hand out to give the brunet some sympathy but James just shrugged away from it as he began to climb out of Kendall's car.

"But that's not your problem, it's mine. You're free to go Kendall, I'm not going to stop you"

"James…" Kendall said once again, but James just shook his head.

"Don't" was all the brunet said, before finally shutting the passenger side door, leaving Kendall in the mustang by himself as he walked back into the police station. As James climbed the stairs, he heard the engine of the mustang shut off, and the driver's side door open.

"Let's take the bastard down" Kendall said, causing James to halt in his place, his eyes still trained to the ground. "Together, let's take this bastard down for Katie and for…"

"Shane" James replied, speaking his brother's name out loud for the first time in years.

"For Katie and for Shane. Let's show this bastard that he's not in control, and that he's not invincible, that he can't force people to do shit and to harm innocent people" Kendall continued, now placing his hand onto James' shoulder. "And then maybe after that, we can give this…us another chance?"

"You'd do this? After everything that's happened?" James asked, turning around to face Kendall, who wiped a tear from under James' eyes.

"Nobody's perfect James, and we…we all do thing that are questionable. But as long as you're willing to be completely honest with me from now on, then I think…I think we can make this work, if you want it to that is" Kendall replied, causing James to nod.

"I do, and I will."

"Then, let's do this" Kendall said, taking James' hands into his own and giving them a squeeze for support. "But, if we're going to do this right, and we're going to take down the Crime Boss, then we're going to have to be noticed, and that means we're going to have to work on your racing" Kendall grinned, causing a small chuckle to work its way out of James, who was now staring into the blond's eyes.

"Thank you" James said, and Kendall could see the authenticity that James held in his eyes.

"It's ok" Kendall replied, his eyes telling James everything he needed to know. It wasn't just about Kendall agreeing to work with him, it was also about the loss of his brother. Kendall shared his pain, and James knew that together they could both work through it.

With one last squeeze of James' hands, and nothing left to be said, James let them both into the police station, ready and confident for what was to come next.

* * *

 **So there we have it, a new development in Kames' relationship! This chapter has been a little bit full on with everything that is and has gone on, but Kames are finally in a place where they can continue from! I hope you guys all enjoyed it!**

 **I want to say a massive thank you to Guest, Winterschild11, EpicallyObsessed and RainbowDiamonds for reviewing the last chapter, and I'm so glad you all enjoyed it! You all did not seem convinced about James' plan, so I am definitely curious to see what you guys think about it in this** **chapter. I mean, I wouldn't do anything horrible to them, would I? 😈 Also, I forgot to say this on Monday but thank you for the well wishes on my dissertation proposal! It's all submitted now, so hopefully my advisor will like it and give me the green light to start my research!**

 **Anyway, I hope you are all having a good week and I will see you all on Monday for the next chapter of Blizzard, but until then,**

 **TTFN 😃🚗**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hi Guys and welcome back to Rush & Response! I am so excited to get this chapter to you, so let's crack on, shall we?**

* * *

"No, absolutely not!" Gustavo said, shaking his head at James, who was currently stood with Camille and Kendall in the captain's office.

"Do you just like to shoot down my ideas?" James replied, Gustavo rolling his eyes at the brunet.

"You're asking me to authorise cooperation with 5 criminals, of course I'm going to shoot down this idea"

"It's a solid lead for finding out who is committing these murders as well as who the Crime Boss is. Surely the release of 5 petty criminals is worth that" James replied, Gustavo shaking his head as James spoke, while Kendall tried not to take offence from James' words. He knew that the brunet was only trying to help.

"But it's not just that detective. You're also asking me to allow him-" Gustavo pointed to Kendall as he spoke. "-to continue to complete drug runs to supply drug dealers and continue to allow street racers to continue to bid and gamble for money. It's against everything that this police force stands for!" That caused James to roll his eyes. "What, do you not agree with that statement detective?" Gustavo asked, causing James to let out a sigh.

"The only reason that this bidding, gambling and drug running is occurring in the first place is because of the Crime Boss. Sure, once he'd locked up all of that isn't going to disappear instantly, but it'll make it easier for the police to deal with. Once one major threat is eliminated, the police will be able to focus its efforts on dealing with the smaller issues." James replied, and he could see that Gustavo was considering his words.

"Still, you're asking me to release 5 convicted criminals back onto the street."

"They're not convicted, all their alibis checked out. None of them could have committed the murders."

"Ok, they're not convicted of murder, but they're convicted of street racing, reckless driving and illegal modification of their vehicles to name a few. Should I go on?" Gustavo asked, but James shook his head. "So, why should I allow them back out onto the street? For the small possibility that your plan might actually work?"

That causes James to scoff. "All my plans have worked, it was yours that didn't" James replied, causing Gustavo to go wide-eyed at the detective.

"Excuse me?"

"It was my idea for me to infiltrate the Waterway Rivalries event, in which we got valuable information about the Crime Boss, and you were able to arrest a good number of racers due to it, and it was my idea to allow us to complete the drug run, in which now we have another lead to follow in case this one goes wrong. But if I'm not mistaken, it was your idea to raid Kendall's base and arrest his crew, and that has brought us nothing but trouble. If you had followed my advice and let me do my job, we wouldn't be in this position right now" James said, maintaining eye contact with Gustavo the entire time as if to prove a point.

"James is right" Camille spoke up, causing a small smile to grow on James' face. "Everything the detective has suggested has worked for us, and he's right about this being a solid lead for us to follow. With Kendall working in conjunction with James, it means that we have an inside man for the operation, one that will be able to give us access to more information. If Kendall is able to get to these higher levels, he may not only be able to discover who the Crime Boss is, but also who will be the next murder victim. That way, we'll be able to protect whoever they are and stop these murders entirely. It's our best bet"

"What about the drug dealer lead?" Gustavo said, cutting Camille short. "With that lead, we may still be able to discover who the Crime Boss is, and we'll have taken 5 street racers off the street.

"If I can say something" Kendall spoke up, stopping James was replying to Gustavo's comment. That was probably for the best as well, as James could feel himself getting worked up. "James and Camille are right, my crew is the best chance you have of not only stopping the Crime Boss but also the entirety of the street racing circuit once the Crime Boss is captured. Like I said to James, for all I know, the drug dealer is just some guy that the Crime Boss wants to supply and has no affiliation with, whereas I have direct contact to one of his employees. As well as that, my crew have access to all of the information about what racers are occurring as well as when. I'll be able to provide the police with this information, so when this is all over, you'll be able to put a stop to all of the races before they even start"

"If I'm not mistaken, when we raided the garage, we collected all of the laptops and devices that were in your possession, so surely, we already have access to it" Gustavo replied with, causing Kendall to shake his head.

"The information comes from a communal database that is updated when a race has been scheduled. The code to access that database is constantly being changed by an autogenerated algorithm. Without knowing what the algorithm is, you don't have access to the database."

"Surely, your computer guy, Logan, knows the algorithm. What's stopping us from getting it from him?"

"The algorithm changes every week," Kendall said simply with a shrug. "You're going to need all of us for this. The street racing community know all of our faces. If suddenly, I'm racing but my crew is gone, people are going to start asking questions, and getting suspicious" Kendall finished, all eyes now on Gustavo as they waited for his response.

"This is our only chance. If you say no to this, you doom this entire operation" James added, causing Gustavo to let out a sigh as he looked to Kendall.

"I'm assuming you're not going to do this out of the goodness of your heart. What do you want in return?" the captain asked, causing both James and Camille to shift their attention to Kendall.

"A pardon for me and my crew, saying that we won't be held responsible for any of the crimes we've committed in the past." That caused Gustavo to scoff, but Kendall ignored it as he carried on. "In return, we will aid with your investigation, and once it's all finished, you will have a signed agreement that our cars will comply with the legal standard _and_ that we will no longer participate in street racing as long as we are able to divide the money we have earnt by it between the five of us. After that, whatever crime they commit, if they commit a crime, they can and will be held responsible for it."

"You really expect me to agree to these terms?" Gustavo asked, causing Kendall to raise an eyebrow at him.

"You will if you want my cooperation in this investigation. My crew will be kept in the dark for the moment to reduce the number of people that know about this, but I will expect them to be pardoned at the end" Gustavo let out a huge sigh as he considered Kendall's offer, and even James knew that it was a hard bargain to agree to. Still, James knew that this was their only solid lead and he knew that Gustavo was aware of this too.

"Fine" The captain finally said, causing a grin to grow on Kendall's face. "But just know that we will be keeping a close eye on you. As soon as one of you step out of line, even by something minor, you will be brought back in straight away."

"Agreed" Kendall replied, reaching out to shake Gustavo's hand, something that the captain did begrudgingly.

"Then that settled it. For the moment, Detective Diamond and Officer Robert, you will continue to do what you were doing before, now with the help of Mr Knight, but I expect regular updates on your progress, and I want to be informed as soon as something big happens. As for Mr Knight, you and your crew will be released, and you will be expected to aid in this investigation until the Crime Boss and the murders are dealt with. As soon as that is done, you and your crew will be pardoned and expected to give up street racing as well as restore your cars to the legal standard within a week. If that is not completed, you will be arrested and convicted. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir" Both James and Camille answered, while Kendall just settled with "Yep".

"Good, then you're dismissed," Gustavo said, causing them all to nod one last time before Camille led the way out of the office. When they were outside, and the door was shut, James spoke up.

"Well, I guess we best get back to work, and we best meet the crew outside before they become suspicious," the brunet said, causing both Camille and Kendall to nod before Camille spoke up, the three of them arriving at her desk.

"James, take the laptop with you. I'll email you all of the case information, so when you and Kendall get a free moment, I advise that you review it together and get him caught up"

"Will do," James said, taking the laptop from her hands with a smile, before turning to Kendall. "Right, let's get down to the garage."

"After you detective" Kendall replied, teasing James with the title. Still, the brunet still felt a little sting at the blond's words.

This was going to be difficult, but he hoping that it would get better with time.

* * *

The two of them made it down to the garage moments before everyone else, giving James just enough time to put his gun, badge and bits back into his glove compartment before the four others entered the garage.

"Kendall! Oh, thank god they released you too!" Lucy said, walking over to the blond to give him a hug, something that took Kendall by surprise as Lucy wasn't usually a hugger.

"Yeah, we didn't know what had happened to you, the officers wouldn't tell us anything" Dak explained, walking up to the blond and giving him a bro hug. Carlos and Logan weren't far behind, giving the blond a hug before Kendall spoke up.

"Well, I'm all good. What happened to you guys?" he asked, causing Carlos to shrug.

"We were just held in a holding cell, and the officers wouldn't tell us anything. We were there for hours until eventually, they started to pull us out one by one to ask what we were doing on a couple of nights. After that, we were put into individual cells, probably so we couldn't tell each other what to say. We just waited until eventually we were told that our alibis checked out and that we could leave" the Latino explained, Kendall's eyes casting to James slightly, causing the brunet to look down at the floor.

"What happened to you? You weren't even put in the holding cell with us" Lucy asked, causing Kendall to let out a sigh.

"I was pulled straight into an interrogation room, and they started to question me straight away. They thought I'd committed murder." Kendall replied, his eyes casting to James once again, who glanced down at the floor once again.

"Yeah, Carlos told us when we were being held. You committing murder, that's ridiculous" Dak said, causing Kendall to let out a little chuckle.

"That's what I tried to tell them," the blond said, causing all of them to chuckle alongside him. "Eventually, the same thing as you guys happened, they asked me what I was doing on those nights, and after giving them a detailed explanation, they went out to find if what I was saying was true. When they found out it was they released me"

"We should get going. We don't want them to re-arrest us because we've been loitering around for too long" James said, causing all attention to turn to him.

"What happened to you?" Lucy asked, causing James to shrug as he looked up at the group. It was safe the say that awkwardness lingered in the air as everyone waiting for the brunet to speak.

"The same as Kendall, I was pulled straight into an interrogation room. I was driving about the city, on my way to the garage when the police flashed their lights. I didn't want to look suspicious, so I pulled over and then the next minute, I was being pulled out of my car and charged with being an accessory to murder. They brought me in, and someone followed behind in my car" James explained, adding the last part to explain why his car was also in the lot besides Kendall's which they brought in due to the drugs in the boot and the challenger, which they seized as evidence.

"But why would they bring you straight into questioning? You're new to the crew, so surely they'd want one of us" Logan asked, his eyes narrowing at the brunet, who shrugged.

"Maybe that's why they questioned me because I was new. Maybe they thought that because I didn't know you guys so well, I'd give up any information I did know in exchange for leniency" James replied, and that caused Logan to back down slightly, James' reasoning making sense.

Of course, it was all bullshit, but it made sense.

"Whatever happened, when I was released, they released James at the same time, so we walked down here together," Kendall added, vouching for the brunet. Kendall's words seemed to relax everyone, so James let out a breath he didn't know he was holding before he spoke up again.

"Anyway, we should get out of here"

"Agreed," Kendall said, causing everyone else to nod. "I'll take Logan and Carlos back with me in the Mustang, and Lucy, you can drive Dak back in the Challenger, while James drives back by himself in the Audi. We'll meet back at the garage, so we can get ourselves sorted and then I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to bed. It's been a long day" the blond added, causing everyone to let out a little chuckle before they started to head towards their vehicles, James grateful that Kendall vouched for him.

That could have gone very wrong very quickly.

* * *

"Nice save" James heard muffled as he closed the driver door on the Audi, and after a brief moment of confusion, he remembered the headphone sticking out from the chair. Chuckling to himself, James put it into his ear as he started up the car.

"Thanks. Although the electrics weren't on, so how did you hear that?" James asked, this time Camille letting out a little chuckle.

"You were stood in the garage; don't you think we have cameras in there?" she asked, causing James to roll his eyes.

"I didn't think they were gonna buy it for a second" James responded, not answering her questioned as he watched the Mustang and the Challenger pull out of the garage, with him not far behind.

"Yeah, good thing Kendall vouched for you, otherwise you would have been screwed. That Logan is definitely intelligent. You know he graduated from Cal Tech"

"Cal Tech?" James asked, impressed by Logan's intelligence.

"Uh huh. It makes you question how a guy like that ended up in a situation like this" Camille replied, causing James to nod, wondering exactly the same thing. "Speaking of guys, how are you and Kendall getting on? He was pretty mad at you in the interrogation room. What was it he called you, an asswipe? As well as telling you to, and I quote 'take a long walk off a short pier"

"Yeah, he was pretty mad, but I think we're ok now. We…um…we talked about it outside the station, and I think he understands why I did what I did, and why I'm doing what I'm doing" James replied, his eyes landing on the blue Mustang as he followed it through the street.

"Ok, but what about the whole liking him thing?" Camille asked, causing James to let out a sigh.

"He confessed that he liked me too, and he said that he wants to give this, us a chance. But I don't know Camille, I can't date a criminal can I?"

"Who says you can't? And technically after all of this is over, he won't be a criminal anymore" Camille replied, causing James to let out a little chuckle. "I think you've got to do what feels right James. If you like him, then go for it. So what, he's committed a few crimes, who hasn't, but if you really do like him, and can see yourself with him, then after all this is done, go for it"

"Thanks Camille." James replied, a small smile growing on his face.

"No worries partner. Now, you best get ready, you're approaching the garage"

"I'll keep you updated if anything happens. Diamond out" the brunet said, causing the headphone to go silent. The chat with Camille really helped James figure some things out, and for the first time in a while, he found himself wishing this case would be over soon for a reason other than reducing the amount of crime on the street.

* * *

When James got back to the garage, James made his way straight to the breakroom, where he was greeted with Logan sorting out his computer and bits.

"What are you doing?" James asked, trying to breach the awkwardness that had developed between the two of them.

"Nothing" Logan replied, causing James to let out a sigh at Logan's word. The computer geek must have sensed James' attitude on the situation, as he spoke up again. "I'm just running a program to see if the police copied any of my information"

"Oh, that's smart" James replied, causing a small smile to grow on Logan's face.

"Thanks" he replied, watching as James placed his laptop onto the desk. "What about you? What are you doing?" he asked, causing James to tense up slightly before he spoke.

"I just have to review some things with Kendall. I wanna install some new parts onto my car, but I don't know which ones are better, so he's going to give me a hand" James replied, causing Logan to nod as he turned his attention back to his computer, while James took a seat.

The two of them must have sat in silence for a couple of minutes before James witnessed Logan closing his laptop's lid down."The programs finished, and it looks like they didn't get anything, so I'm gonna head off," Logan said, causing James to nod, a small smile on his face.

"Alright, I'll see you soon" James replied, Logan now nodding.

"Yeah, see you soon" he replied, before exiting the room, something that James thought the geek couldn't have done any quicker if he tried. It was definitely awkward between them, and James didn't know why that was. Logan seemed comfortable around him before, so maybe it was because of what had happened.

Before James could get lost in his thoughts, the breakroom door opened one more time, and the brunet looked up to see Kendall enter the room. The blond flashed him a small smile as he spoke.

"We're the last ones here, Lucy just left and asked me to lock up when we're done. I've also disabled the security cameras, so we don't have to worry about this being filmed"

"Are you sure, because Logan seems suspicious of me" James replied, causing Kendall to let out a sigh as he sat down next to James.

"He's probably just a little bit shocked after everything that's happened, so he's become suspicious of the new guy. Not that he's wrong but…" Kendall shrugged.

"I'm sorry. I know this can't be easy for you, lying to them. And I'm sorry about what I said in Gustavo's office about me planning all those things. It can't have been easier hearing all of that"

"It's fine" Kendall replied, but James reached out to grab the blond's hand.

"I thought we were being honest with each other" James said, causing Kendall to let out a small chuckle.

"First off, that was you being honest with me" the blond clarified, before letting out a soft sigh. "And I am fine. I will admit, it was a little hurtful to hear that you helped plan to bring us down, but I also know that it's your job and I know why you're doing it. It's going to take a little bit of getting used to, working with the feds, but I'll be ok"

"As long as you're sure" James replied, causing Kendall to nod.

"I am, and we're ok" the blond replied, causing a small smile to grow on James' face, the brunet leaning into peck Kendall on the cheek.

The blond seemed to blush at the action, but when he didn't shy away from it, James knew that was a good sign.

"We should start reviewing these files, it's getting late," Kendall said, causing James to nod as he loaded up the emails with the files on them.

From the amount Camille had sent, James knew that they were going to be there for a while.

* * *

 **So there we have it, Kendall has agreed to work with James, Camille and Gustavo for the long term provided that he and the crew get pardoned at the end of it! We also had everyone finally get released from the station, and Logan seems a little sceptical of James. Will that last, or is it just a temporary thing?**

 **I want to give a massive thank you to Guest, Winterschild11, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter, and I'm so glad that you all enjoyed it! You were all glad that Kendall and James finally worked everything out again, with there even being the threat of a smack if that didn't happen 😜 And you all also seem to agree with Kendall that James got caught, but we'll have to wait and see for that one! And poor James bless him, confessing a little more of his backstory, I felt so bad for him writing it, that I even teared up slightly!**

 **I hope you are all having a great week, and I will see you on Monday for the next chapter of Blizzard! But until then,**

 **TTFN 😃🚗**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hi Guys and welcome back to Rush and Response! So this chapter is a lot of dialogue between James and Kendall, but I have to admit, I found writing it helpful as it helped me remember some things. You'll see what I mean, so I'm going to stop rambling and let you crack on with it!**

* * *

"Ok, so the first piece of evidence that the police seemed to investigate were the tire tracks, and they discovered that the type of tire used for the murders is the same type that is used by many street racers" James began, the first file loaded up on the laptop.

"Right, they're radial tires" The blond replied, causing James to raise an eyebrow at him. "The cord plies in the tires are arranged at 90 degrees to the direction of travel" Kendall continued, James eyebrow staying in its position. That's when Kendall let out a sigh. "It means that, amongst other things, the tire has the most traction on the road that it can, so it makes the car more responsive when braking as well as making it easier to speed up"

"That makes sense" James replied, and this time it was Kendall who had his eyebrow raised, causing James to begin explaining himself. "By using these tires during the murders, the murderer knew that they'd have the most control possible. It means that they'd be able to speed up quickly in order to ram into the victim's vehicles, and then brake when said vehicle loses control" James explained, causing Kendall to nod, a small smile on his face that he'd taught James something. "Ok, but the real question is, where can you get these tires?"

"Anywhere" Kendall replied, causing James to look over at him with his eyebrow raised once again.

"Anywhere? But the police reports indicated that the tires couldn't be found in any of the garages around the city"

"That's because garages aren't going to have illegal tires on display when the police come in to question them" Kendall replied like it was the most obvious thing ever. To be honest, it kind of was. "All the garages in the city will sell them, especially because this city is famed for street racing. The police probably couldn't find them because the garages would have them stored someplace different, or just somewhere where the police wouldn't look. It's not a question of who would sell them, it's a question of who could afford them" Kendall continued, taking over the laptop for a second to load up the internet to show James. "The type of tire that is being used to commit the murders is probably the most expensive set, hell even we don't have them"

"But during the raid, apparently a set was found in your garage" James replied, causing Kendall to roll his eyes.

"And if your people would have looked harder, they would have found that the tires are different. All radial tires have to be the same in some respects, but they differ in others with some being street legal, while others aren't. The tires on your car at the moment are probably radial tires because they're a common tire type, but the one you're looking at here is a very high-quality version, with distinctive tire tracks."

"So, what does that mean then?" James asked, changing back over to the document with all the evidence on it.

"It means that we've got to keep a close eye on any of the cars that we race. If I had a set of these tires, it's safe to say that I would be flaunting them. Whether they're on a challenger or not, it doesn't matter as the person may just be changing them out, but what does matter is that they have the tires in the first place" Kendall replied, causing James to nod.

"Ok, I'll have to learn some of the finer details of the tire, but I can do that"

"And I'll have Lucy ask around to see if anyone has sold a set of these tires recently. As I said, they're expensive and garage owners like to talk, so whoever sold 'em will be bragging about it" Kendall said, causing James to nod. "Ok, what's next?"

"The victims of the murders themselves," James said, loading up the next document that Camille said, which contained a picture of the victim as well as information about them. "There have been 5 planned victims in total, 4 before I arrived and 1 since I've been here. Each of them has been a wealthy and influential person who we believe have had connections with the Crime Boss" James continued as Kendall scrolled through the document, pausing on one person in particular.

"Wait, I know him, Roy Richards" Kendall began, the blond reading the information about him as he continued to speak. "He was everywhere about a year ago, making a big statement about how he was running for a councilman position. I remember it because one minute, no one knew who this guy was and probably within a day, maybe two, it seemed like his face was on every billboard and he was starring in TV ads and all sorts. It was difficult to forget something like that"

"Do you know anything else about him, or recognise any of the others?" James asked, causing Kendall to shake his head.

"Not really no. I mean, everyone's heard of Blake Petersburg, the CEO of Grizzlimited" Kendall replied, scrolling up to the profile of the woman on the document. "But I wouldn't have been able to tell you anything about her, or even what she looked like"

"Well, we know that the Crime Boss is going after people he's had business transactions with. Roy Richards for example, we were able to talk to his driver who survived the attack and he claimed that Mr Richards had a deal with the Crime Boss, stating that once he got into power, he'd give the Crime Boss a little more freedom. So, can you think of anyone else who you think may have done something similar? Anyone who has had a meteoric rise in the city within the span of a couple of days" James asked, but Kendall shook his head.

"Not really, not other than Roy Richards, but it could be possible that these dealings have been going on for years. Again, I'll ask around and see if anyone knows anything. Logan grew up here, so he'd probably be the best person to ask about that"

"Ok, but make sure you're discreet about it. I'm sure that Logan is already suspicious of me, so we don't need to be drawing anymore." James concluded, causing Kendall to nod.

"I'm also pretty sure that we'll be able to google if anything like that has happened in the past. As I said, Roy Richards was everywhere, so if there was a meteoric rise like that in the past, then there is probably a record of it on the internet"

"Then I'll have Camille search for anything like that happening. If Logan tells you a name, let me know, and I'll get Camille to do some research on it"

"You really trust her, don't you," Kendall said, causing James to nod, a small smile on his face.

"She's been with me since the beginning, and she's supported everything I've said, so I have no reason not to. She's my partner" James replied, the smile on his face growing slightly before he focused back onto the computer. "Ok, so that's the murder victims but the next piece of evidence we have is the murder car itself"

"A Dodge Challenger right?" Kendall said, causing James to nod as he loaded up this file, to find that it was pretty much empty. "You don't have a lot on this do you," Kendall said idly, causing James to shake his head.

"Unfortunately not" James began, letting out a sigh. "We got this information from the driver of Roy Richards, Harry Stevens, but he wasn't able to tell us a lot considering the attack was committed at night on the Mason Freeway, which isn't well lit"

"That means that the murder knows where he's going" Kendall concluded, causing James to nod.

"We'll get to that in a minute, but I want to focus on the car first since we know very little about it. We don't know the registration plate or even the colour of the vehicle. What didn't help was the fact that the cameras on the freeway weren't able to provide us with any additional information, so I was wonder what you knew about this car"

"Well, I'll begin by saying that Challengers are a very well used car for street racing" the blond began, causing James to let out a sigh. "The standard car has a pretty powerful engine in it to begin with, which makes them pretty popular with beginners, and due to the bulk of the car, they're actually pretty good for handling at high speeds. That's also probably the reason why one's being used to commit these murders, as they are very bulky cars. Logan damaged ours when he was drifting, the back of it slammed right into the lamppost and to be honest, there wasn't actually a lot of damage to it, meaning that you could use it to ram into another car, and you'd know you'd be able to drive off afterwards" the blond said, James letting out another sigh.

"It also means that it's going to be difficult to find the murder car" the brunet added, causing Kendall to nod.

"Exactly. Because of there popularity, it means that every single garage is also stocked with spare parts for replacements so getting a damaged car like that fixed would be no issue. It also means that there is going to be a lot of them racing, so without knowing anything about it, it's going to be difficult to track down. Even the colour would have been helpful as it would have provided us with a starting point. You said that on the night of the murders, the cameras were offline?" Kendall asked, causing James to nod. "And on the nights of the other murders? Were you able to get video footage of those?" the blond asked, causing James to shrug.

"No one has mentioned any so I'm guessing not, but I'll email Camille quickly and ask," James replied, taking over the computer a second to send the email.

"'Cause that video footage would be really helpful, but if it doesn't exist, then it could be another piece of evidence, as it might prove that someone is deleting footage of the murders to cover their tracks"

"That must mean that the Crime Boss has a tech guy working for him," James concluded, pressing send on the email before turning to Kendall. "For example, Logan. We know that he was a history of computer work, so maybe that's the tasks that he's being set." When James said that Kendall had his eyebrow raised at him, James raised his hands into the air as a surrender. "It was just an example"

"It could also mean that the Crime Boss has someone on the inside. I mean, who can access the footage?"

"Pretty much anyone within the police force" James replied, the brunet raising his eyebrow once again. "Wait, so you think someone from the inside is doing this?"

"It was just an example" Kendall replied, repeating James' action, causing the brunet to roll his eyes. "But it gives you something to think about. Getting back on track, checking the garage's receipts for Challenger parts might not be a bad idea, as we may be able to find whether someone has gotten a Challenger repaired after a murder has happened. It might not give us anything concrete, but it's a start" Kendall concluded, causing James to nod as he updated the file with what Kendall had said.

"And finally, we believe that it's a street racer committing these murders. The style of driving used by street racers fits with what Mr Stevens described, plus what you said about the murder knowing the streets of the city. Those coupled with the blackmail situation that you described happening to you and many others means that the Crime Boss has power over you to get you to do what he needs." James stated, causing Kendall to nod.

"It does make sense. Plus, a street racer would know what car and tires are the best to use for something such as that, and they'd also know that replacement parts can be found anywhere. But again, it's going to be difficult to apprehend anyone due to the popularity of the car, as well as the lack of information you have on it. If you at least knew the colour, you'd be able to narrow down a list of people who one and you'd be able to begin your search there" Kendall said, causing James to nod before he spoke up.

"But is there anyone who you think is capable of doing something like this? Like that guy with the Nissan GT-R and his friends who got rowdy with us when his friend hit that building"

"Who, WayneWayne and the ZiggleZaggles?" Kendall said, causing James to raise his eyebrow at the ridiculous names.

"The what?" James asked, but it went ignored.

"It's entirely possible that it was one of them, as they're all a bunch of pricks and they're notorious for ramming into people"

"So, do you think it's worth investigating them?" James asked, causing Kendall to shrug.

"I guess it couldn't hurt."

"And that's WayneWayne and the ZiggleZaggles?" James asked, causing Kendall to let out a little chuckle.

"No, it's just a name we made up for them because they zig-zag when they drive to stop people getting by like WayneWayne was doing. I don't know the name of the rest of the crew, but WayneWayne is actually Wallace Patrick Dooley" Kendall answered, causing James to nod as he noted down the name.

"I'll get Camille to run a background check on the name, and we'll see if anything comes up. In the meantime, if you can think of anyone else then let me know, as it's one more lead than we had before, and as you can tell, we need some leads"

"You're definitely short on evidence" Kendall commented, causing James to let out a sigh.

"Trust me, this was a lot more than what they had before I started, and with your help, we've now got a lot more," James replied, and as he finished, the computer dinged. "Camille's emailed back, and the cameras have nothing on the night of the murders." James read, causing Kendall to lean over to look at the laptop screen. "According to this, three of the murders were committed on nights when the street cameras were scheduled for a software update, while for the other two, it just says that the footage is corrupted for the entire hour when it was committed"

"That's pretty suspicious in itself" Kendall commented, causing James to hum in agreement. "So the question is now, who has access to the street cameras as well as their upgrade footage"

"Well, the cameras are updated once a month, and I'm pretty sure that they're always updated on the 15th. As for who has access to it, the cameras themselves are run by the city's department of transport so they have access to the footage, so do we, the police force."

"So that means that it is entirely possible that the Crime Boss has someone on the inside who has access to that information, whether it be someone in the department of transport or the police force."

"But it could also mean that someone has just hacked into the system and has access to it that way. It doesn't necessarily mean that he has someone on the inside" James responded, causing Kendall to raise his hands into the air once again in surrender.

"It was just an example" the blond repeated, James rolling his eyes once again. "I'm just saying James; it is entirely possible that someone on the inside is doing this. I mean, they'd also know the city as well as a street racer as they'd have to patrol the streets and be able to respond to emergencies quickly by knowing the route. Plus, they'd also have unrestricted access to the camera footage meaning that they would be able to delete it or corrupt the file to stop anyone from seeing" Kendall reasoned, causing James to let out a sigh.

He knew that the blond was right, but the thought of someone on the inside working for the Crime Boss was difficult for him to comprehend.

"Ok, just to be safe, I'll ask Camille to see if she can recover the corrupted information. I mean, there must be some way for them to do that right?" James asked, causing Kendall to nod.

"Right, but what you've got to think is that if it is someone on the inside, they might not let that happen, so it might be worth letting Logan take a look at the information as well" Kendall replied, causing James' eyes to widen, Kendall quickly speaking up again. "Think about it, Logan might be able to find something in the file that the police haven't."

"I don't know Kendall, it's a big risk"

"So was me agreeing to help, but I'm still doing it. If the Crime Boss does have someone on the inside, then he's going to know by now that I'm helping you, but I'm still helping" the blond replied, causing James to let out a sigh.

"You're right. I'll ask Camille to send over the data, and then you can get Logan to look at it. It's probably better if you ask him, as that way it won't look suspicious" James concluded, causing Kendall to nod as James closed the final document down. "Ok, so we have a plan of action. We'll get Camille and Logan to see if they can find something in the camera footage, and while they're doing that, Lucy will ask around to see if anyone has bought a set of these tires. I'll get a background check of WayneWayne, while you try to find out the rest of his crews name, and I'll get some officers to ask garages whether Challenger parts have been sold around the nights of the murders. Is there anything else I've missed?"

"We'll also be on the lookout for any of those tires on any car" Kendall replied, causing James to nod, the brunet updating the list as he went on.

"Right" James finished, typing the last task out before turning to Kendall. "Thank you for working with me on this. It means a lot to have your input" the brunet said, and Kendall could see the sincerity swirling in James' eyes, causing his facial expression to soften slightly.

"Don't mention it, I'm just glad I could be of some use" the blond replied, causing James to let out a small chuckle.

"You've been of massive use" James commented, causing Kendall to smile at him before the blond's eyes flicked to the clock.

"Wow, we've been here for quite a while, I should probably get going, I've got work in the morning," Kendall said, causing James to nod as he closed the laptop lid. "But maybe when I get off, we could meet here so we could work on your car? I thought we could start on your training by taking a look at the car to see if anything could be added to help"

"Yeah, that sounds good" James replied, grinning at the blond. "Just text me when you're finished and I'll make my way here" the brunet continued, causing Kendall to nod as he smiled.

When James had finished talking, Kendall found himself leaning in, and before long, their lips connected. It took Kendall a few seconds before he realised what was happened, and despite the fact that he begun it, Kendall found himself pulling out first.

"I'm sorry, I didn't…" Kendall began, but James just shook his head.

"Kendall, it's fine," James replied, already knowing what Kendall was going to say.

"It's just that it's still a little soon, and I know I was the one who said I wanted this to work but…"

"Kendall, I said it's fine" James interrupted, placing his hand onto his knee as he continued to talk, his voice soothing. "It's been a crazy day, so I know that you have a lot to think about"

"Thanks James" Kendall replied, causing James to pat his knee.

"Don't worry about it, and I'll see you tomorrow," James said, leaning in once again to peck Kendall on the lips before grabbing the laptop and making his way out of the breakroom, leaving Kendall alone with his thoughts.

Much like James had said, it had been a crazy day, and Kendall knew he was going to be up all night thinking about it.

* * *

 **So there we have it, a chapter reviewing all the evidence so far, as well as Kendall providing insight where he could, as well as some of his own theories! As I said, this was really helpful for me as it helped recap everything that has gone on, so I hope you found it useful as well!**

 **I want to give a massive thank you to Guest, Winterschild11, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter and I'm glad that you all enjoyed it. You all seemed to love the fact that everyone is working together now, but you were also curious to see what Logan was thinking, with James thinking that he's suspicious of him, so I'm curious to see how you will react to this chapter. And to answer RainbowDiamonds question, they can pretty much do anything when this is over. Maybe Logan will apply to college again, or Carlos may open his own garage? To be honest, I'm not really sure, I haven't planned that far ahead 😜**

 **Unfortunately, I won't be uploading now until the 6th of May since I am away in Ireland for a university field trip. Guess who's going to be climbing in and out of rivers for about 5 days, this guy! 🙌 But I will see you for Blizzard when I am back! But until then,**

 **TTFN 😃🚗**


	19. Chapter 19

**Hi Guys and welcome back to Rush and Response! So, a bit of a shorter chapter today, but I wanted to round off the in-story day, and start the next day as a new chapter. Anyway, I'm rambling now, so let's crack on!**

* * *

Kendall sighed as he dropped onto his bed, thinking over the day he'd had, and boy, had it been a stressful one. From being arrested to finding out that James was an uncover police officer, to then agreeing to work with the police, a lot had certainly gone it and it was safe to say that Kendall hadn't really had a lot of time to process it over the course of the day.

The whole day seemed to be 'go time' with him having to make sure that he and his crew didn't get busted for a crime they didn't commit, to him then having to complete the drug deal he was supposed to, but this time with a police officer watching his every move while also making sure that he didn't look suspicious at all.

Another sigh escaped Kendall's mouth, this time as he shuffled up the bed slightly to try and get himself a little more comfortable. The blond knew that he wasn't going to be able to sleep tonight, so he might as well try to make sense of the day he'd had, and in order for him to do that, he had to be comfy.

Settling down, Kendall cast his mind back to the beginning of the day, just before the police raid first started.

* * *

 _"Hey Carlos," Kendall said as he walked into the main garage after chatting to Lucy in her office. The blond was in a pretty good mood after everything that had happened with James the night before, so he was excited to see the brunet in order to see where their whole thing would go._

 _"Hey Kendall, you left early yesterday" the Latino responded, causing a small blush to grow on Kendall's face._ _"And I also noticed that James left early as well" the Latino continued, causing Kendall's blush to deepen._

 _"I don't know what you're talking about" Kendall replied, with a grin on his face, causing Carlos to smack his arm playfully._

 _"You dog"_

 _"Hey, we didn't do anything like that" Kendall stated, causing Carlos to raise an eyebrow at him. "Ok, so we may be made out on the bonnet, but that was it" Kendall explained, but Carlos still had his eyebrow raised. "I swear, we didn't do anything else. His phone interrupted before I got a chance"_

 _"I knew it," Carlos said, slapping Kendall playfully on the arm once again with a grin on his face._ _"So, have you seen him yet today?" The Latino asked, causing Kendall to shrug._

 _"No, I don't think he's here yet. Although you know what James is like, he sort of just turns up when he wants"_

 _"Ain't that the truth" Carlos replied, causing Kendall to let out a small chuckle. "Well, I'm working on the challenger if you want to give me a hand. It needs a new fuel injector, so I'd appreciate the help"_

 _"Yeah, that sounds good to me" Kendall replied, taking one last look around the garage for James before following Carlos to the Challenger._

* * *

In hindsight, Kendall could see why it looked suspicious, him working on the challenger but at the same time, he still couldn't get his head around the whole situation. Why did him having a certain car mean that he was the murder?

Of course, James had explained all of this to him many a time, but it still didn't make sense to him. And another thing was why was he explicitly called out. Why did it seem like he was the prime suspect on this case?

Was it just because the police knew his backstory and they didn't know the others, so he was the most likely culprit, or was it just because of how close he was to James? Seeing the brunet's relationship with his boss, it wouldn't surprise Kendall if Gustavo had picked on him just to get to James.

Another sigh escaped the blond's mouth, this time as he rolled over. James was at the forefront of his mind again, and so many questions accompanied the image of the brunet.

Taking a deep breath, Kendall decided to sort his thoughts into a logical order once again, this time starting from the moment where the raid actually began.

* * *

 _"Can you pass me the monkey wrench?" Carlos asked, causing Kendall to nod as he reached onto the trolley and grabbed the item. As soon as he picked it up, a series of loud bangs sounded throughout the garage causing the two of them to stare at each other._

 _"What the hell was that?" Kendall asked, causing Carlos to shrug about to respond. Before he could, however, the two of them were faced with about 5 armed police officers staring at them with their guns aimed at them._

 _In a split second decision, Kendall dropped the wrench before putting his hands into the air in surrender as he spoke. "Who the hell are you, and what are you doing in our garage," the blond asked, as Gustavo pushed his way to the front of the group._

 _"Kendall Knight, Carlos Garcia, you're under arrest for suspected murder" Gustavo began, and that caused Kendall's heart to drop massively. Still, in his moment of panic, he was able to find his voice._

 _"Murder?" he asked, quickly glancing over to Carlos, who looked just as confused as he did. When Kendall glanced back to Gustavo, the man beside reciting their rights, and Kendall knew that his question was going to go ignored._

 _"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in court. You have the right to talk to a lawyer for advice before we ask you any questions. You have the right to have a lawyer-" Gustavo rambled on, causing Kendall to zone out for a split second as he got lost in his own frantic mind, the blond reviewing his entire life to try and figure out at what point he'd committed murder._

 _As expected, the blond could recall nothing, but his brain was going haywire at the fact that an officer was now cuffing his hands behind his back._

 _"I'm also entitled to a phone call!" Kendall stated, remembering what he'd seen in all the cop movies that he'd seen. "And I want to call James! He'll sort this out" The blond continued, causing a small chuckle to leave Gustavo._

 _"Oh, just you wait, you'll be seeing James pretty soon" Gustavo replied, causing Kendall's face to drop at the words, the blond immediately thinking that James had already been arrested and pulled in for questioning._

 _As Kendall was forced into the back of the police car, all he could focus on was the thought of James in an interrogation room, while some angry cop shouted questions at him. He just hoped that James would hold out ok, and even as their garage was being raided, and their cars were being seized, it was all the blond could think about._

* * *

Kendall couldn't help but think that one; hindsight was a bitch and that two; he probably should have seen James being an uncover cop sooner.

Then again, the brunet did a really good job of not letting onto it, and Logan's background check had come back clear so he would have had no way of knowing until James had wanted him to. And if was safe to say that Kendall did not regret his reaction to the news, and that, to be fair, it was probably a lot tamer than it could have been, although that probably had something to do with him being in police custody.

Still, the one thing that the blond was grateful of, was the fact that James had stuck to his word and helped Kendall and his crew out of it. When James had first told him that he wanted to help the blond, Kendall hadn't believed one word of it, but the more the two of them worked together, going over Kendall and the crew's alibis, the more Kendall began to believe that James was actually there to help him.

Even to this moment, however, despite everything that the two of them had been through and discussed with each other, Kendall couldn't silence that small voice that was at the back of his mind, telling him not to trust James again. The brunet had already lied to them once, with something that was huge, and while Kendall knew that James couldn't tell them about him being an uncover cop since it would have blown his cover and ruined the case, Kendall was worried about what else the brunet wasn't telling them.

Are there other secrets that James isn't telling him, despite the fact that the brunet had promised to be honest? Another sigh escaped Kendall, this time as the blond rolled over in his bed. Really, he needed to stop thinking about this. At the end of the day, James had always been the one that had wanted to help them, whether that by participating in the races, or deterring Gustavo away from most of his ludicrous plans, and while James was probably ordered to participate in said races, what Kendall kept coming back to was the fact that James never took any of the money at the end of them.

Surely that must say something about his character, with the brunet choosing to give up his share instead of taking it, especially when he didn't know why the crew needed it so badly. Amongst that, Kendall could understand why James was the way he was, and why he was doing what he was doing. Kendall knew the pain of losing family, as well as what it can drive people to do, so he could understand why the brunet is focused on finding who the Crime Boss is especially after what had happened to his family.

Kendall could only hope that James would learn to stop being so obsessed with the case and learn to live a little along the way, and the blond wanted to be the one to teach him that, especially if they planned to become a thing after the case had finished. Kendall sighed once again, rolling over for the second time. The blond really did care about James, and despite the whole police reveal, Kendall's feelings for James hadn't changed, which was probably blew up the way he did in the station.

What didn't help that either was James' confession that everything that had happened between them, the brunet had 100% meant, so Kendall knew that James' feelings for him were real as well and that the two of them could potentially make this work once everything was over with.

Provided Kendall lasted that long that is, but the blond was trying not to think about that part. Kendall could imagine a life with James, and that's probably what made this entire thing so scary. Well, that and the threat of death, but again, Kendall was trying not to think about that part. Never before had Kendall ever imagined himself with anyone, the blond had always assumed that he'd be indebted to the Crime Boss, so he never wanted to bring anyone into that life with him.

But with James, he saw himself, he saw the two of them being together for the long run and boy did that frighten him, especially when the only thing he really knew about family was that they all die in the end. Shaking the morbid thought from his mind, Kendall rolled onto his back, as he shuffled himself so that he was under the duvet.

The blond really needed to get some sleep, so he tried his best to relax and get comfortable. His thoughts could wait for another day, most likely tomorrow, but for the moment, the blond really needed to get some sleep, especially since he had work early tomorrow.

Taking one final deep breath, Kendall closed his eyes, hoping that the abyss of sleep would overcome him soon.

* * *

 **So there we have it! Like I said, a bit of a shorter chapter, and I'm sorry if it was a bit rambly. I'm still trying to get back into my mojo for writing!**

 **So, I want to give a massive thank you to Winterschild11, Guest, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter and I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Most of you seemed to think that WayneWayne is involved, and I'm so glad that you liked the Ziggle Zaggles bit! It fit so perfectly, with it being their name in the show, so I just had to go for it! And you all seemed to think that Kendall had some pretty good ideas, so we'll just have to wait and see what's going to happen next!**

 **I will see you all on Monday for the next chapter of Blizzard, and I hope you've all had a good week so far! But until then,**

 **TTFN 😃🚗**


	20. Chapter 20

**Hi Guys and welcome back to Rush and Response! I don't really have much to say, so let's crack on shall we?**

* * *

"Well, it's not a total mess, but it's clear that some compromises were made in order to have all the fancy stuff installed" Kendall announced from under the Audi, before wheeling himself back out on the dolly. "Still, I can work around them and get the car up to scratch. Starting with this supercharger"

"Hey, I installed that supercharger"

"Yeah, I can tell" Kendall replied with a grin on his face, causing James to kick the dolly slightly. Kendall's head disappeared under the car for a brief second before the blond pulled himself back out. "All I'm saying is that there is definitely work that can be done to it to improve your chances of winning"

"I'm doing pretty well so far"

"And yet, you still couldn't beat me" Kendall teased, causing James to raise his foot, ready to kick Kendall under the car once again.

Before he could however, Logan walked in with his laptop in his hand. "There's a race tomorrow. We're meeting in the breakroom" he said, nodding his head towards the back, causing both Kendall and James to nod.

Once the blond was back on his feet, the three of them made their way into the breakroom, where everyone else was gathered.

"So, what's the route?" Lucy asked as Logan placed the laptop on the table and spun it towards them.

"It's a long one. It starts on the outskirts of the city before taking you up past the waterfall, towards the houses in the hills. You follow that road west until it loops back down, straight into the city centre, where you'll race through the hordes of traffic, but this is where it gets risky. The route they show will take you straight past the police station before you continue west out towards the beach front, so at this point, you're certain to have the police on your tail. Going past St Lewis Pier, you'll then have to drive on the pavement, with is pretty much a single file situation unless you want to end up on the sand. The race ends at the marina officially, but if you've still got the police on your tail, then they're saying you can't head there. You need to make sure that you have lost the cops before you get there if you want a shot at winning." Logan explained, causing Kendall and James to glance at each other briefly before they returned their attention to Logan. "It's about an hour and a half driving in total"

"Fuck me, that is a long race," Lucy said, rubbing her forehead in anxiety.

"But it's a $180,000 payout, roughly $2000 per minute. That much money would go a long way in helping us out" Logan added, causing everyone's eyes to widen.

"And it would certainly bring some attention to the winner" James stated, causing Kendall to glance at him, the two of them on the same wavelength.

"I'm down to do it" Kendall spoke up, causing everyone to look over at him. "I mean, I know that area pretty well and it will also give me a chance to test out the modifications I'm going to make on James' car. Plus, that payout is worth it, and I bet there is some compensation for second and third place as well."

"$90,000 for second and $45,000 for third" Logan added, causing Kendall to nod.

"Even they're worth racing for" Kendall replied, causing Lucy to let out a sigh.

"I'm not disagreeing with you" She began, her eyes shifting from the table to the blond. "But you'll have to be extra careful. For a start, a race like this is going to draw lots of racers to it, so you'll be in for some tough competition and secondly, you've already been arrested once this week. We don't need you being arrested again, and actually charged this time."

"I promise, I'll be careful. If the heat from the cops gets too much, I promise I'll withdraw from the race and just focus on losing them" Kendall replied, causing Lucy to nod.

"So it's agreed then? Kendall will take this one?" Logan asked, causing everyone to look round the table and nod. "Alright. I'll send you the exact starting location and time"

"Looks like we have some work to do," Kendall said, turning his attention to James, who just nodded.

As everyone shuffled out of the room, Kendall and James made their way back to the Audi, Kendall now surer than ever that he'd need to make some improvements to James' vehicle.

* * *

"So what improvements are you thinking of making?" James asked, the two of them now just reaching the front of the Audi. As soon as Kendall was about to speak however, James got a text message, causing him to pull his phone from his pocket.

 _'Get in the car now. The both of you'_ It read, causing James to let out a little chuckle.

"It's from Camille. She wants us to get into the car" James explained, causing Kendall to nod, if not with a puzzled look on his face. As the two of them climbed into the car, James' phone began to ring. Without even looking at the home screen, James answered it, put it on speakerphone and spoke up. "Hello, Camille"

"What's this about modifications being made to my baby without my permission," she said, ignoring James' greeting entirely. "I can't believe you were even thinking about changing things on the car but to practically go ahead and do it already!"

"We haven't even made any changes yet" Kendall spoke up, causing a low growl to come through the phone.

"You. Don't even speak to me. You try installing all these systems onto a car without having to make some sacrifices"

"Well, I was going too, until you interrupted" Kendall replied, causing a smirk to grow on James' face, while Camille let out another low growl. Realising that he'd taken it far enough, Kendall spoke up once again. "Look, if we're going to get the attention of the Crime Boss, then we're going to have to show him that we have the best cars in the business, and that means winning a lot of races. Sure, the car is in a good condition, and you really did do a good job at installing all of these systems into it, but we're going to have to make some changes if we want to win these harder races. The car's just too...up to code" Kendall explained, causing the car to go silent for a few seconds before a huff came through the phone.

"Fine, but I want to be consulted about every change that's going to be made. I know that car inside and out, so I'll be able to help" Camille replied, causing Kendall to nod.

"Agreed. I was thinking of starting by changing the spark plugs out for some iridium ones, as they'll cause the fuel to combust faster"

"Fair point. The old ones haven't been in there for too long, but the iridium will definitely make a big difficult" Camille replied, causing Kendall to nod, while James just slouched back in the seat slightly, completely confused.

"I was also going to change the performance chips in the fuel exchange system with a few of our own. The one in the car at the moment is deliberately restricting the amount of air and fuel the car can consume, but with ours, we'll gain increased horsepower, sped and mileage"

"That's fair again. What else?" Camille asked, causing Kendall to let out a little chuckle.

"Just the air intake, tires, rims, brakes, drivetrain and the supercharger" Kendall replied, rattling off the list quite quickly, causing another smirk to grow on James' face. Camille definitely wasn't going to be happy about all of that.

"That's a lot of changes. I thought you said I did a good job" Camille spoke up, causing Kendall to let out a soft sigh.

"I did, but all these changes will be a massive help. The new air intake will allow more air to reach the engine, and that combined with the spark plugs, will improve the speed and the mileage. The new rims will make the car lighter and the new tires will help improve its grip on the road. The new brakes will allow us to become more efficient in how we use them, and by tuning the drivetrain, everything will work a lot smoother. Plus, you can tell that James installed the supercharger, so a new one would go a long way" Kendall explained, causing Camille to let out a little chuckle at the end.

"I get what you mean about the supercharger. I tried my best with him, but it was his first piece of work, so it was never gonna be the best. Still, good luck with him helping you on this one" Camille responded, causing James to let out a small huff.

"So, you're just gonna insult me now?" the brunet asked, causing Kendall and Camille to both let out a little chuckle.

"But, ok, I think you've made your point. You have my blessing to work on the car. Just please, be gentle with her" Camille said, causing Kendall to nod.

"I will be. For a start, I won't let James anywhere near her" Kendall replied, causing Camille to let out a little chuckle.

James, on the other hand, saw it as the perfect opportunity to leave the vehicle, which only resulted in Kendall and Camille laughing once more. A few seconds later, Kendall hopped out the car as well, passing James' phone back to the brunet as he spoke up.

"Looks like we've got some work to do," Kendall said, causing James to roll his eyes.

"Oh, so you want my help now?" James asked, causing a mischievous grin to grow on Kendall's face.

"Of course I do. Who else is gonna pass me my tools?" The blond replied, the teasing tone evident in his voice.

"Jackass" James muttered under his breath, causing Kendall to let out a chuckle.

"But seriously, it's gonna take two of us to do this, so if your down, then the help you be appreciated" Kendall explained, causing James to nod.

"Just as long as you promise to stop making jokes" James stated, causing Kendall to nod, a small smirk present on his face.

"Promise" Kendall replied, reaching his hand out to shake James.

With a shake to seal the deal, the two of them got to work on the long day they had ahead of them.

* * *

"Are you sure you want me in the car with you? Won't I like, be a distraction or something?" James asked once Kendall had told him that he was accompanying Kendall in the car during the race.

"I mean, it's your car, so you probably should be in it with me so you can see how well the improvement work" Kendall replied, causing James to nod his head. "And you're always a distraction for me" Kendall added on the end with a wink, causing James to blush as the two of them approached Logan and the rest of the crew.

"Ok, so I'll be in your ear the whole time, keeping you updated on everything and we'll meet you at the marina at the end of the race," Logan said, causing Kendall to nod as he took the earphone from Logan.

"Just remember what we said Kendall, we don't need you getting arrested. If the heat from the police gets too much, back off from the race and just focus on losing them. No amount of money is worth losing you" Lucy said, causing Kendall to nod once again.

"I will do, and thank you for the compliment" Kendall responded, causing Lucy to roll her eyes.

"I take it back"

"Too late, we all heard it!"

"Just get your ass into that car, and win us the damn money" Lucy finished, causing a small chuckle to leave Kendall as he nodded.

"Come on, let's get ready," the blond said to James, causing the brunet to nod as he followed Kendall towards the car.

As they walked, James couldn't help but glance around at all of the racers, until his eyes landed on one specifically. "WayneWayne's here" he announced, nodding his head in the direction of the driver, causing Kendall to follow his eye line.

"Of course he is. The prick wouldn't dare miss out on an opportunity to win a large sum of cash"

"And if he is the murder, it also gives him the chance to prove that he's still got what it takes after the loss at the Waterway Rivalries." James replied, causing Kendall to hum in agreement.

"We'll have to keep an eye on him. In a race like this, he's going to play all types of dirty and he won't hesitate, probably even when we have the cops on our tails."

"Which of course, we won't need to worry about too much" James added, causing Kendall to glance up at him. "I'll get Camille to call off the cops on our tail after we've passed the pier. By that point, I'm guessing all the racers will split up to try and lose them, so it won't look suspicious" James continued, causing Kendall to nod.

"Sound like a plan" the blond replied, flashing James a quick smile. "It looks like we're starting soon. We best get into position."

"After you," James said, gesturing so Kendall could go forward before he followed the blond to the Audi.

With Kendall climbing into the driver's side, and James into the passenger's side, the two of them got ready, with Kendall putting the earphone from Logan in, while James plugged his earphones into his phone and called Camille.

"You know, if I would have known that we would have been working with someone on this case, I would have put an earphone into the passenger side seat as well" she spoke up, causing James to let out a little chuckle.

"It's fine. I have unlimited minutes anyway" James responded before he glanced over at Kendall, who was currently chatting to Logan.

"There are out 20 cars lining up at the starting point at the moment, so I would make your way over there as soon as possible" Logan said into Kendall's ear, causing Kendall to nod as he started the car engine.

"Alright, how's the route looking?" Kendall asked, causing Logan to let out a sigh.

"The roads are looking pretty busy, especially around the city centre, so it's going to be a tough race. The traffic does thin out in the hills, but the tight roads and corners may make it difficult to overtake"

"I'll manage. I always have before" Kendall replied, causing Logan to let out a hum of agreement as Kendall took their starting position.

It was safe to say that they were closer to the back of the pack, but Kendall tried not to let that deter him. He needed to look on the bright side and take advantage of the situation, much like James was doing at the moment, with the brunet taking a photo of the line-up.

"Camille, I'm going to send you a photo, containing most of the racers in front of us. Would you be able to run that through the system, and get us some identifications?" James asked, his response for a brief second just being typing.

"I'll get on it, but it may take a while for the computer to get a match. In the meantime, I'll pass the photo along to the uniformed officers. At least that way they'll know what cars to chase after you race past the police station" Camille replied, causing James to nod. "Speaking of which, I've already confirmed what officers will be 'chasing' you and Kendall. They've agreed that once you're past the pier, they'll wait until a suitable location until they break off pursuit."

"Perfect, thanks" James replied, glancing over at Kendall.

"The police issue has already been dealt with," he said to the blond, causing Kendall to let out a sigh of relief.

"That's one less thing to worry about" Kendall replied, causing James to flash him a small smile before he returned his attention back to Camille.

"We've also had visual confirmation that WayneWayne is racing with us," James said, causing Kendall to let out a little snort next to him at the name.

"WayneWayne?" Camille asked, causing James to let out his own little chuckle.

"Sorry, Wallace Patrick Dooley. Is the background check on him completed?"

"Yep, I'll send the information through to you now"

"Perfect, thank you, Camille. Is there anything else you need from us?"

"Not really, but I'll give you a call if anything comes up"

"Same here, thanks for all the help" James replied, cutting off the call with Camille, before turning his attention back to Kendall. "Anything from Logan?" James asked, causing Kendall to shake his head briefly.

"Not really. He gave me a traffic update, and he's also said that there are about 30 racers, including us, competing today so the stakes are high" Kendall replied, causing James to nod just as his phone pinged. "What about Camille? Anything good?"

"She's going to run all of the cars through the system, so we know who we're up against, and she's also just sent through WayneWayne's background check, which is pretty extensive. Looks like he's got a criminal record for a petty thief he committed a few years back. He tried to rob some antibiotics from a pharmacy and was caught in the process." James read, glancing up at Kendall briefly before he read the next bit. "He was bailed out by someone who had no affiliation to him, at a price of $50,000"

"So, that must be the Crime Boss then. I mean, that's what happened to Logan, someone random bailed him out" Kendall replied, causing James to raise an eyebrow at him, the brunet considering asking about Logan's past, before deciding against it for the time being.

"So, he's a suspect then. I mean, the murder style fits his MO, and it seems like he's indebted to the Crime Boss."

"But that could also go for everyone else here" Kendall stated, causing James to let out a sigh.

"I'll ask Camille to put a bug on his phone and on his computer, but that's about the most we can do at the moment."

"So, we're no closer to finding out the truth" Kendall responded, now sighing himself.

"No, but hopefully we will be after this hour and a half" James replied, his gaze turning to the front of the queue of cars. "Speaking of which, I think we're starting up. Ready?"

"Ready" Kendall responded, and with that, the two of them watched at the chequered flag was raised into the air. Engines revving around them, Kendall took once last glance at James, who flashed him a small smile, before pressing his foot down on the gas pedal.

The engine roared to life as he did so, and as they both watched the chequered flag be raised into the air, ready to signal the start of the race, Kendall's grip tightened on the steering wheel.

"Let's see what this baby can do" The blond announced, and with that, the flag was waved, starting the race.

* * *

 **So there we have it! Kames have geared up for a pretty long race, with some improvements being made on the Audi for it, but they're still unsure on who is even committing these murders! Hopefully, their investigation will start to gain some proper traction soon!**

 **I want to say a massive thank you to Guest, Winterschild11, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter and I'm so glad that you enjoyed it! Kendall certainly does have a lot on his mind, and maybe this race might be an opportunity for him to get some of it out there, with the two of them being in a car together for about an hour and a half!**

 **I hope you guys are having a great week, and I will see you on Monday for the next chapter of Blizzard! But until then,**

 **TTFN 😃🚗**


	21. Chapter 21

**Hi Guys and welcome back to Rush and Response! Sorry for the late update today, but here it is! Let's crack on shall we?**

* * *

The Audi's engine roared to life as Kendall put his foot down on the accelerator, causing the car to shoot forward, the blond easily gaining a few spaces. Both of them seemed impressed by what the car had managed to do so far, and Kendall knew that if it maintained this standard for the rest of the race, he'd have no issue winning the $180,000.

Glancing into the rearview mirror, Kendall saw how a couple of the cars behind him were fighting each other for 19th place, causing the blond to put his foot down even further, hoping to gain a lead on them. The blond knew that whoever won that battle would be coming for him next, so he wanted to put as much distance between him and them as possible.

However, on his second glance into the mirror, the blond was greeted with the sight of one car smashing right into another, causing the second car to spin out and flip onto its roof. A couple of cars behind the crash were able to swerve around it, but unfortunately for two others, they went crashing into the toppled car, causing them to flip as well. Kendall let out a sigh as he witnessed this happening, the blond taking a small moment to glance down in order to pay his respects.

As James witnessed the crash as well, he couldn't help but bring his hand over his mouth at the sheer horror of the situation, but he was quick to respond, dialling Camille's number on his phone. "Camille-"

"I see it and I've already dispatched an ambulance," the brunette said down the phone, causing James to let out a sigh of relief.

"Thanks, Camille" James replied, before cutting off the phone once again and turning to Kendall. "Does that happen often? At the start of races?" James asked, causing Kendall to shrug slightly as he let out a sigh.

"More often than you'd expect" the blond replied, glancing back to look at the crash once again. "Some people will just stop at nothing to get what they want"

"Was that a subtle dig towards me?" James asked, causing Kendall to shake his head, turning his attention back the road.

"It wasn't. At least it wasn't meant to be" Kendall answered, before letting out another sigh. "Still, I just can't help but feel slightly on edge with everything that going on. I mean, I'm directly in the firing line for the whole thing, and I can't help but feel like something's bad is going to happen, or something else is going to go horribly wrong" Kendall continued, causing James to glance down at his lap, fidgeting slightly.

"I'm sorry that I make you feel that way," James said sincerely, causing Kendall to move one hand off of the steering wheel, linking it with one of James'.

"Hey, it's not you at all. We're ok James, I promise" the blond said, causing a small smile to grow on James' face at the news. "But I have to admit, it's Gustavo. I just keep feeling like he's out to get me specifically. I mean, think about it. You'd said to him that the base raid was a bad idea, saying that it wouldn't actually get him anywhere, but he overruled your decision. And then, when the base was raided, he told both Carlos and I that we were under arrest for suspicion of murder, yet I was the only one that was properly interrogated. The rest of them were just asked to provide alibis of where they were." Kendall explained, before letting out a sigh. "I don't know James, maybe I'm just being paranoid, but I think he's out to get me" Kendall finished, finally glancing at James, who was trying to digest all of the information. It was true that Gustavo did focus on Kendall more than the rest of the crew, but then again, that was because most of the information James collected was based around the blond. James let out a sigh, as he rubbed his forehead.

"I just think that Gustavo wants this whole street racing/murder business sorted out and that he got a bit overzealous when he'd thought that we'd found a suspect" James replied, causing Kendall to tut slightly under his breath. "But, then again, I suppose it is a little strange that he's targeted you specifically. I'll keep an eye on him if that's any help. I mean, we're supposed to be cooperating with this investigation now, and I don't want him to fuck it up just because he thinks you're the murderer when you're clearly not" James continued, causing Kendall to nod.

"Thanks, James."

"Don't worry about it. And if he ever overrules me again, you'll be the first person I let know" James added, causing a small smile to grow on Kendall's face.

Something about the tone of James' voice portrayed how sincere he was being, causing Kendall to relax slightly. The whole situation was still putting him on edge, but at least he knew that he could rely on James if anything or everything went to shit.

* * *

It was about half an hour into the race when James got a phone call from Camille again, and as Kendall glanced over at him, the brunet put the phone onto speaker, so the two of them could hear her.

"Ok, so I've managed to identify about 9 of the racers so far, although for of those were because of the crash earlier." Camille began, before letting out a sigh. "I will admit though, that is has been slow going. It turns out that none of the cars that are racing today are actually registered, meaning that I can't just use the licence plates to find who owns them, so I've been having to use street camera imagery to get a match"

"I can't imagine that's easy for the cars with tinted windows" Kendall said, causing Camille to let out a huff on the other side of the phone as if to agree with Kendall.

"Still Camille, you're doing brilliantly," James spoke up, hoping to encourage the brunette girl.

"Thanks, I'll keep working with what I can get, but I'm hoping the process will speed up when the police start to chase the cars. That way, the uniformed officers will be able to provide us with a description of them" Camille replied before the sound of typing filled the car for a brief second. "Speaking of which, all the uniformed officers are now on alert, and will be ready as soon as you drive past."

"Perfect, Camille thanks" James replied before Kendall spoke up.

"We're still about 30 mins out from the police station" the blond added, causing more typing to sound throughout the car.

"Thanks for the update, and I'll be sure to keep you up to date of anything changes on our end, but so far, we're all in the clear."

"Perfect thanks Camille," James said once again, before glancing at Kendall slightly, who was focusing on overtaking one of the other racers. "Um, Camille?" the brunet asked.

"Yeah, what's up" the brunette girl replied, causing Kendall to glance over at James for a brief second, curious about what he was going to ask.

"How's Gustavo?" James asked, causing Camille to go silent for a brief second as if she were stunned by the question.

"He's alright why?" she replied, causing James to let out a brief sigh before he spoke up.

"No, it's nothing. I was just wondering if he's said anything about what's happening today with the race and that"

"No, he hasn't said anything about it really, he's just letting us get on with it. I mean, he did shout at one of the uniformed officers earlier, but then again, that's one of his character traits" Camille stated, causing a smirk to grow on James' and Kendall's face.

"Alright, thanks. Just, keep me up to date if he says anything yeah?" James asked, causing a small smile to grow on Kendall's face.

"Will do. Camille out" she replied before the phone call cut off.

"Thanks for that" Kendall spoke up, causing James to shrug slightly.

"It's alright. I mean, it's better to be prepared in case anything is happening" James replied, placing one of his hands onto Kendall's leg as if to show his support.

The blond was about to reply when his earphone cut into action. "Kendall?" Logan said into the blond's ear.

"I can hear you loud and clear, what's up?" the blond asked, catching James' eye line, which was looking right at him.

'Logan' the blond mouthed, causing James to nod before he turned his attention back to his phone, where Camille had sent through the information on the people she'd identified.

"We're set up at the marina, by the finish line of the race, and I just thought that I'd give you an update on what's going on. So, you're in 8th place at the moment and the car in first place is about 3 minutes ahead of you, which is a bit of a distance but since you've got about an hour left, it's definitely possible for you to catch up. As well as that, 3 more cars have been knocked out at the back of the pack, so you're down to 18 racers"

"Alright, I'll pick up the pace a little bit, thanks Logan" Kendall replied, causing James to tilt his head slightly at the blond.

"As I said, I wouldn't worry about it too much at the moment. Carlos seems to think that the car at the front is designed to take these winding roads better than most, but in order to do that, it's gonna suffer on the straights, so you'll be able to catch up there"

"Alright, I'll keep that in mind. Thank the guys for me as well"

"Will do, and keep it up" Logan replied before Kendall's earphone went silent.

"What did he say?" James asked as soon as he knew that Logan has finished.

"That we're in 8th place at the moment, and the car in front is about 3 minutes ahead of us" Kendall replied, causing one of James' eyebrows to raise.

"So how far is that?" James asked, causing Kendall to let out a sigh.

"It's difficult to say properly. But I'm averaging about 50-60 miles an hour on these roads, so probably about 3 miles ahead, if that maths even works" Kendall replied, thinking about what he said for a brief second. "Whatever the case, it's not a bad distance, but it's also not the best. Still, everyone seems to think that the car in first is going to suffer when we start to hit straight roads again as it's built for driving on roads like this"

"So, we've still got a chance of winning?" James asked, causing Kendall to let out a little chuckle.

"Yeah, I think so. Plus, it could all change as soon as the police get involved, and we have a distinct advantage there" Kendall replied, causing James to let out a little chuckle.

"That's definitely true," the brunet said before the car went silent, with the two of them concentration on their own tasks. It was a few minutes later when James went to speak, opening his mouth before he shut it again. The brunet must have done this for a few seconds, causing Kendall to glance over at him.

"You alright? I think your mouth might be broken" the blond said, causing James to roll his eyes.

"Jackass" James commented before he went silent once again. It was only a few seconds later this time when James pressed the button which turned all the microphone off in the car, causing Kendall to glance at him once again.

"What was that for?" the blond asked, his eyes flicking between the road and the button James had pressed.

"It turns off the microphones in the car" James replied, before shifting in this seat slightly so that he could face Kendall better. "I'm curious about something that you said earlier. When we were speaking about WayneWayne, and how he's indebted to the Crime Boss, you said that a similar thing had happened to Logan, with him being bailed out of prison by someone random, but we ran background checks on everyone, and none of you had a criminal record." James continued, causing Kendall to let out a little chuckle.

"That's Logan's handiwork" Kendall commented, causing James to raise an eyebrow at him, and that's when Kendall began to fidget in this seat slightly.

"It's alright, you can tell me. The microphones are off, and I promise I won't tell anyone" James added, causing Kendall to let out a breath before he spoke up.

"You know that Logan's, like, really good with computers right?" Kendall asked, causing James to nod. "Well, when he first joined our crew, it was safe to say that everyone was a little bit off with him because he couldn't really race. Sure, we tried to make him feel welcome and that, but there was the general consensus of what's the point of having and helping this guy if he's not going to contribute anything to the crew. I think Lucy was the first person to finally say something about it, and when we asked what he could do, he said that he could pretty much delete every trace of us from the internet"

"So that's why there was nothing on you when Camille ran your name" James though out loud, causing Kendall to let out a little chuckle.

"Pretty much. He did it for everyone in the crew, and he was able to get rid of criminal records, and any real indication of who we were" Kendall replied, causing James to let out a little chuckle. "He's definitely good, I'll give him that" James commented, causing Kendall to nod along with him.

"So, how'd he end up as part of your crew. I mean, we were able to find out that Logan graduated from Cal Tech, so I'm curious as to how someone like that ended up in this situation"

"Hey, I'm offended by that. Are you saying I'm dumb because I ended up in a situation like this?" Kendall mocked offence, causing James to begin trying to defend himself.

"No, I didn't mean-"

"It's fine James" Kendall quickly interrupted, letting out a little chuckle as he did.

"I didn't mean it like that, I promise," James said, feeling the need to defend himself anyway. "I'm just curious as to how it happened"

"I probably shouldn't be the one to tell you" Kendall began, letting out a sigh, as he removed one of his hands to rub his forehead. "Promise you won't say anything to anyone"

"Promise," James said, causing Kendall to nod, as he blew out another breath.

"So, Logan was 21 and he'd just graduated from Cal Tech, but he didn't have much to his name. After Logan had come out to his parents during university, they cut all ties with him and wanted nothing to do with him, so he had to fund his own way through, meaning that by the time he'd graduated, he had no money and nowhere to move back to. He was out every day, applying for all sorts of jobs, just looking for anywhere that would take him, but no one would hire him, mostly because he didn't have a place to live. I think he said it was something like 2 months after he'd finished university, and he was still living out on the street, with nothing to his name when someone finally approached him and offered him a job. Well, he was desperate, so he took it immediately but what he didn't realise was that it was for some sort of 'hacktivist' group and that they were looking for him to do some illegal shit. From what Logan says, it started out light, with him hacking people's profile on social media in order to gain some sort of information about them, or adding stuff onto people's criminal records so that they'd get arrested for shit they didn't do, and while Logan wasn't comfortable doing it, he also couldn't really complain about it. This group had given him somewhere to live and he was getting a fair sum of money from it, so at the end of the day, it was in his best interest to keep working for them. Plus, you know, they had loads of blackmail material on him, so if he tried to leave, they'd release it"

"So what happened?" James asked, causing Kendall to let out a sigh.

"Logan said that they started to ask more and more of him over time. He says that sometimes they were getting him to hack into smaller government servers in order to get information and stuff about a city's dealings, or they'd ask him to start removing stuff from criminal records so that a guilty person could go free. Eventually, they asked a task of him that he said crossed a line. He'd probably been working with them for about a year by this point, when the main guy of the operation wanted him to hack into a banks local network and transfer $1 billion over three different accounts, one of which was the main guys, but Logan didn't want to do it. Still, he knew that he couldn't just refuse to do the job, because the group would completely ruin him, so as he hacked into the local system, he left little traces throughout the system that the police could trace. It didn't take long for them to realise that he was doing it, so they stormed his apartment and he was arrested."

"Fuck," James said, letting out a deep breath at the story.

"Yeah, it's definitely something. But yeah, so he was bailed out by one of the Crime Boss' minions, and he's been with us ever since."

"And what about the hacktivist group. Do they still have all that stuff on him?" James asked, causing Kendall to shake his head.

"No, they were all arrested as well. When hacking the bank's system, the traces Logan left also lead the police to them as well, so the whole group was taken down, and all the data was deleted" Kendall replied, causing James to let out another deep breath. He already knew that everyone in Kendall's crew had suffered something to be in the place that they were, but to actually hear their stories, that was hard.

If anything, however, it only made James more determined to keep his promise to Kendall, that they'd all be free to live their own lives once this case was over.

* * *

 **So there we have it! Kendall confessed that he's worried that Gustavo is out to get him, and we also learnt Logan's story as to why he's in this situation! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and once again, I'm sorry for how late it's out.**

 **I want to say a massive thank you to Winterschild11, Guest, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter, and I'm so glad that you enjoyed it! You all seemed to love the banter between everyone which was nice to see, and yet, you all seemed to think that something was going to go wrong during the race, which of course, no comment from me!**

 **I hope that you're all having a great week, and I will see you on Monday for the next chapter of Blizzard! But until then,**

 **TTFN 😃🚗**


	22. Chapter 22

**Hi Guys and Welcome back to Rush and Response! I don't really have much to say here, so let's crack on shall we?**

* * *

"I really hope this guy is the murderer. I'd love to have the satisfaction of putting him away" James said, causing Kendall to let out a little chuckle as they approached WayneWayne, who was already zig-zagging to stop them from getting past. "I mean seriously, who does that"

"It is a useful tactic James" Kendall spoke up, causing James to roll his eyes slightly.

"Yeah, but only when we're actually driving on the other side of the road to him. At this point, the worst he's doing is giving me motion sickness" James replied, causing a small smile to grow on Kendall's face at the brunet's words.

The blond was trying his best to follow where WayneWayne was driving, but James was right in some respects, it definitely disorientating especially when they were still driving throughout the hills. They were close to approaching the city centre, but for some reason, that only seemed to make the roads in these hills windier. Damn Hyperion Falls and the posh twats that wanted to live close to the city, yet also out of it slightly.

Kendall shook his head, trying to remove those thoughts from his head as he refocused on the road. The blond knew that if he was going to get past WayneWayne, he'd have to put his full attention on it, and after taking a deep breath, that's exactly what he did.

As a corner approached, WayneWayne took the outside of it, causing Kendall to put his foot down, the Audi's engine roaring once again, as Kendall began to slip into the inside of the corner, in the right-hand lane. Seemingly predicting Kendall's moves, WayneWayne brought his car over, ready to collide with Kendall, but the blond was always one step ahead.

Releasing the gas slightly, the Audi dropped back just in time for when WayneWayne entered the right-hand lane, and Kendall used this to his advantage, now pulling round in the left-hand lane to pass WayneWayne on the outside. The Audi's engine was holding strong as they began to overtake the Nissan GT-R driver, and before long, the cars were neck to neck as they traversed the winding hill roads.

Taking the opportunity, James glanced over at WayneWayne, and he could see the tension that the racer held in his shoulder. His hands gripped the steering wheel tight, and his body was rigid as he drove, causing James to finally turn his attention to Kendall.

"Drop back," the brunet said, causing Kendall to glance at him slightly.

"What? We're almost past him"

"Drop back" James insisted again, causing the blond to roll his eyes slightly as he followed James' instructions. Just as Kendall released the accelerator, the Nissan came over into his lane hard, and thankfully, the front of the Nissan had just missed the front of the Audi, with WayneWayne hitting the stone wall slightly, causing it to crumble to pieces.

"Fuck, he would have rammed us right through that" Kendall commented, now coming up on the right of WayneWayne. "How'd you know he was gonna do that?"

"His body language" James replied, wiping a little bit of sweat off of his brow. "His body was tensed, almost like he was bracing himself for something big" James continued, causing Kendall to let out a sigh beside him.

"Well, thanks for that" the blond replied, causing a small smile to grow on James' face at the praise.

That's when Logan cut into Kendall's ear once again. "We've got a problem" the genius began, causing Kendall to raise an eyebrow at him.

"What's up?" the blond asked, causing James to look over at him, worry written all over his face.

"We've got a family car coming down the lane. A mum and her two kids. Either you or WayneWayne are gonna have to give, and I have to admit, I can't see it being him"

"How far out are they?" Kendall asked, causing Logan to let out a sigh.

"They're just around this next corner. Thankfully, they're driving in the middle of the road, so I wouldn't worry too much about them getting over in time, it's just about not hitting them" Logan responded, causing Kendall to nod.

"Alright, thanks for the heads up" Kendall replied, and as soon as the earphone went dead, James spoke up.

"What's wrong?"

"There's a family car approaching," Kendall said, causing James to let out a sigh.

"Fuck, WayneWayne's gonna go straight into them" James replied, glancing to the car on his left.

"I've got a plan. Logan says she's driving in the middle of the road, so if she can react fast enough, they should be fine" Kendall replied, causing James to raise an eyebrow at him.

Still, the blond just ignored it, as he put his plan into action. Slotting the car down a gear into 5th, the engine revved loudly as they to approach the corner, and as soon as they hit the sweeping bend, Kendall went as far over to the right as he possibly could. As the apex of the bend approached, Kendall put his foot down further, causing the Audi's engine to roar even louder as he cut right across from the right-hand land into the left hand one. In doing so, his car shot out right in front of WayneWayne's, and across the front of the family cars, who thankfully swerved into the right-hand lane that Kendall previously occupied.

Letting out a sigh, Kendall finally glanced into the rear-view mirror, seeing the family car adjust itself so that it was in the correct lane once again before his eyes finally landed on WayneWayne, who was sneering at him.

With a smug grin on his face, Kendall refocused his eyes back on the road, ready to gain some headway on the Nissan and its prick of a driver.

* * *

"Alright, so you're just coming up past the police station now. With the first lot of racers already passing, I wouldn't be surprised if you met some resistance." Logan spoke into Kendall's ear, causing the blond to nod.

"Alright, and how are the rest of the racers looking?" Kendall asked, causing typing to sound out through his earphone for a brief second.

"About 8 of them are still in the hills, you have 3 fairly close behind you, and the other 6 are being chased by the police as we speak" Logan replied, causing Kendall to nod.

"Alright thanks for the heads up"

"Remember, you can't head for the Marina until they clear your tail, so make sure to lose them as fast as you can"

"Will do" Kendall replied before the earphone went dead in his ear. "Are the officers that are supposed to be tailing us ready?" Kendall asked James, causing the brunet to let out a little shrug.

"I'm guessing so. Camille assured me they would be" James replied, causing Kendall to nod.

"Alright then, let's do this!" Kendall responded, putting his foot down once again so that the engine revved loudly as he floored it through the traffic and straight past the police station.

Much like Logan had expected, and James had said, the police were ready waiting for him, and as soon as they shot past the police station, a patrol car was on their tail with the sirens wailing. Kendall swerved and weaved around traffic, with the patrol car staying on his tail the entire time.

"Damn, this officer's a good driver, I have to admit," Kendall said, causing James to nod slightly as he stared down at his phone. "I just hope that he follows Camille's orders, and back off when she tells him too"

"He should do" James responded, looking up from his phone to glance at Kendall. "After all, she's been planning this since yesterday so I trust her that everything will go to plan" James finished, and as soon as he had, his phone rang, Camille's name flashing up on the screen. "Hey, what's up?" James asked, causing Camille to let out a sigh over loudspeaker.

"We've got a problem" she began, causing both Kendall and James to glance at each other briefly.

"A problem?"

"Yeah, a problem" Camille confirmed, causing James to shuffle in his seat slightly. "So, you know how I said that a specific set of officers would be 'chasing you.' Well, it actually turns out that they didn't even get a chance to come after you because the officer in the car behind you just went straight for you"

"So what does that mean then? That you can't call him off?" Kendall asked before James spoke up.

"Surely you can just get in touch with the guy in the car behind you, and tell him the plan," James said, causing a sigh to come through the phone.

"That's what I've been trying to do, but he's not answering his radio and he's ignoring all requests to back off and let the other car pursue you" Camille replied, causing James to glance behind him at the car that was very close on their tail.

"So, am I going to have to lose them myself?" Kendall asked, the sound of typing coming through the phone for a brief second.

"It would appear that way. I'll keep trying to get in contact with the guy, but if he's ignoring orders, it might not actually matter. I'd prepare yourselves either way" Camille explained, causing both Kendall and James to nod. "I've got to go, guys, it's hectic down here. But I'll keep you up to date" Camille finished, and before either of them could respond, she hung up.

"So much for 'everything will go to plan'" Kendall said, causing James to glare at him slightly. "Good thing I'm a pro at outrunning police cars" the blond continued, causing James to roll his eyes slightly.

"That might not be necessary, Camille might sort it out for us" James replied, flicking the switch which unlocked the glove box. "Besides, I'm going to try and get in contact with him. See if I can sort this out" James continued, reaching into the glovebox to pull out a walkie talkie.

Glancing at the front of the police car, James got the unit number and began to speak into the radio.

"Unit 298, this is Detective Diamond, break off pursuit of the white Audi TT RS Coupe, and allow unit 327 to take over. 10-19 copy" James said into the mic, causing Kendall to glance over at him.

"It's kinda hot when you talk code like that" Kendall said, causing a smug smile to grow on James' face for a brief second.

When nothing came over the radio for a second, James' smile turned into a frown. "Unit 298, 10-19. Do you copy?" James said again, causing Kendall to glance over at him once more.

"What's 10-19?"

"It means a return to the station" James responded, before letting out a sigh. "But it's obvious that this officer isn't getting the message" the brunet continued, fiddling with the radio briefly before he spoke into it again. "Dispatch 10-97, over."

"This is dispatch, 10-2, over" the walkie spoke back, causing Kendall to glance over at James again.

"I just asked Dispatch to check my signal, and they said they're receiving it loud and clear" James explained, causing Kendall to nod. Letting out a sigh, James spoke into the radio once again. "Unit 298, this is Detective Diamond. You are ordered to break off pursuit and return to the station. Do you copy?"

"I don't think he's listening" Kendall spoke up, causing James to let out a sigh as he put the walkie talkie back.

"It would certainly appear that way" the brunet replied, rummaging about in the glovebox.

"What are you looking for now?"

"My badge. It should be in here somewhere, and hopefully, if I can show it to him, he might back off a little bit. Do you think we're far enough away that it's acceptable to lose the police yet?" James asked, causing Kendall to let out a little sigh.

"We've only been going for what, about 5, 10 minutes? Maybe give it a little longer, at least enough time for me to start going down a few of these side streets" Kendall replied, causing James to nod, as he reached in and grabbed the radio once again.

"Alright. I'm gonna get in touch with Dispatch again. Maybe they'll be able to explain why this officer isn't responding to the radio" James said, causing Kendall to nod, the blond focusing on where he was going while James began to chat into the radio.

Luckily, Kendall was able to tune out most of what James was saying as he weaved and swerved around the traffic. Logan was right, it was definitely busy, but it wasn't anything that he hadn't handled before so the blond knew he could get through it. Turning off the main street, Kendall began to navigate some of the smaller side roads, using the Sat-Nat in the Audi to help him.

The whole time, the officer was still on their tail, not letting up at all, and Kendall couldn't help but let doubt and suspicion seep in again that this was Gustavo's doing. Gustavo was the only one who could have overruled Camille's plan and ordered an officer to do this, and it made sense with him being out to get Kendall. The blond sighed, glancing around as he took a left.

He shouldn't be thinking about this, especially at a moment like this, but it was certainly difficult not to when they had a stubborn officer on their tail.

"Dispatch can't figure it out" James spoke up, snapping Kendall out of his thought process. "They say that the radio in that car is working perfectly and that he is receiving the messages, but they might that maybe the radio is just turned down really low so that he can't hear it"

"You don't seem convinced by that" Kendall said, noticing the tone of voice that James was using.

"It just doesn't make sense. When a unit is contacted directly, the radio automatically turns itself back on or come through with a higher volume. He's definitely heard me, and is just choosing to ignore it" James replied, letting out a sigh. "I'm going to try showing him my badge. Maybe that will stop him from chasing us"

"Well, we're far enough into the side streets that losing him will look natural" Kendall replied, causing James to nod.

"Perfect. Here goes nothing" James replied, grabbing his badge, and showing it through the back window.

The police car was close enough that James knew for sure that the officer could see the badge, and when the officer began to back off slightly, James let out a sigh.

"Oh thank god, that's over," James said, and just as he finished, the car was jolted forward, with a loud clunk coming from the back of the car. "He's just fucking rammed us," James said, turning around to look at the police car that was backing off again. "He's gonna do it again!" James warned, causing Kendall to swerve to the right sharply, avoiding the next impact, as James got on the phone. "Camille, this officer just fucking rammed us," James said straight away, not giving her a chance to speak. "I need to know what the fuck is going on now"

"If I knew, then I'd tell you" Camille responded, typing filling the car once again. "That unit isn't registered to any officer tonight, so it's impossible for me to figure out who is even driving that car. There's nothing I can do from my end to help you, I'm sorry" she continued, causing James to let out a sigh.

"Alright, well, thanks for the help Camille, and sorry I swore at you" James responded, causing a little chuckle to come from the other side of the phone.

"Trust me, I'm just as pissed as you are" she replied before the phone went dead.

"So, do you think you can lose him?" James asked Kendall, the blond swerving to the left this time to avoid the next impact.

"I probably could, but I think I might have a better solution" Kendall replied, causing James to raise an eyebrow at him. Ignoring James' nonverbal question, Kendall pressed on his earphone causing it to spark to life. "Logan, I need some help. I'm having trouble losing a police car, and I need you to get rid of it for me" Kendall spoke up, James' quizzical look growing further.

"That's strictly against the rules Kendall, if we got caught, you'd be disqualified" Logan replied, as the car was rammed from behind once again as Kendall was distracted.

"Fuck the rules, Logan, this is street racing," Kendall said, causing a small smirk to grow on James' face. "It's unit 298"

"I'm just getting into the system now, although it looks like this car is a newer model, so it has some more firewalls I need to breakthrough" Logan replied, Kendall hearing the typing through the earphone. "And I'm in. Damn, this car has some tech on it. Cameras, ANPR, a small laptop connected to the entire database, and a variety of modes. Patrol, intercept-"

"Can you hack into the brake controls and force the car to stop?"

"No, I can't. The brakes aren't connected to the system." Logan responded, causing Kendall to let out a sigh. "But I can kill power to the engine completely" Logan added, causing Kendall to roll his eyes.

"Why didn't you just respond by saying that?" Kendall responded, glancing into the rearview mirror to see the officer reading for another charge. "Look, just cut the power," Kendall said, causing silence to sound out through the earphone for a brief second.

"And done," Logan said, both Kendall and James watching as the sirens cut out completely along with the car's acceleration.

"Thank god for that! You're a G, Logan!" Kendall said onto the earphone, watching as the distance between them and the patrol car grew, while James let out a sigh.

This certainly wasn't how he'd expected this whole situation to go down, and what seemed to come straight to the forefront of his mind was what Kendall had said earlier about Gustavo.

If the police chief was out to get them, this would have been a perfect opportunity for him to do so.

* * *

 **So there we have it! Some difficulty both with WayneWayne and with the officer that was chasing them. Things definitely aren't going to plan with this race, that's for sure!**

 **I want to say a massive thank you to Winterschild11, Guest, EpicallyObsessed and RainbowDiamonds for reviewing the last chapter and I'm so glad you liked it! You all seemed convinced that something bad was going to happen, which to be fair, you weren't wrong but is that all that will happen to the two of them? You were also glad that Kames were working through things together, and you also enjoyed Logan's backstory which I'm glad about! I felt bad teasing it and not saying anything, so I thought I'd explain!**

 **Anyway, I'll see you on Monday for the next chapter of Blizzard, and I hope you're all having a great week! But until then,**

 **TTFN 😃🚗**


	23. Chapter 23

**Hi guys and welcome back to Rush and Response! Today's is a little bit of a shorter chapter just wrapping up the race, so I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

As Kendall drove past St Lewis Pier, Logan spoke into his ear once again. "You're down to only eight racers now. 5 have been arrested, and another 5 are still trying to lose the police, although I have to admit, it doesn't look good." Logan began, causing Kendall to glance over at James slightly, who was now on the phone to Camille. "You're also in third place, and the other two racers aren't far ahead of you, so you've got 20 minutes to overtake them and win this thing"

"Thanks for the update Logan, and for all your help"

"Don't mention it" Logan replied before the earphone went silent in Kendall's ear.

"We've got five of the racers, and Gustavo is questioning them now. Whatever the case may be, it's safe to say that he isn't letting this lot go afterwards, they'll be charged and prosecuted with street racing and reckless driving charges" Camille said into James' hear, causing the brunet to nod

"Perfect, and is there any idea on who that officer was that was chasing us," James asked, causing Camille to let out a sigh.

"There is, but you're not gonna like it" Camille replied, causing James' phone to beep next to his ear. "Put me on loudspeaker, you're both gonna wanna hear this" Camille continued, causing James to nod as he removed the phone from his ear and put it on loudspeaker, Kendall glancing over at the phone briefly. "Turns out that the guy chasing you was a junior officer by the name of Peter Olivers, and that he was ordered to apprehend any street racers by any cost."

"Ordered by who?" Kendall asked, glancing at James slightly with doubt in his eyes.

"It was the Commissioner" Camille spoke up, causing James to choke slightly.

"I'm sorry, the commissioner?" James asked, causing Camille to let out a sigh.

"Unfortunately so. Luckily, Gustavo has managed to fill him in on the plan, and he's agreed, preliminarily at least, to let us see it through. Still, it turns out that he's not happy with the progress that the police department has been making, so he decided to step in and take control. For all we know, he could have ordered ten to fifteen of those cars to apprehend racers, or he could have only sent the one, and you guys just got unlucky." Camille finished, causing James to glance over at Kendall briefly.

"Alright, thanks for the update Camille"

"No worries. Although I should warn you that the commissioner wants you to report back to the station as soon as you can. Apparently, he wants to have a meeting with us to see what's actually being done, so I'm guessing Gustavo hasn't made the best impression. Roberts out" she replied, causing the phone to go silent in his lap.

Letting out a sigh, James loaded the files that Camille had sent through of the five racers that were arrested, but it wasn't long before Kendall spoke up.

"So, what does that mean then? The commissioner stepping in?" the blond asked, causing James to rub his forehead as he let out a sigh.

"It means that our job might become twenty times more difficult, or twenty times easier, I really can't say. The commissioner has complete power over the precinct and if he doesn't like what we're doing, he can just call everything off completely, and that does mean everything"

"Including our deal?" Kendall asked, causing James to nod, albeit disappointedly.

"But hopefully it won't come to that. When I talk to him, I'm going to explain everything and tell him the benefits of what we've been doing. I mean, we've been making real progress together"

"But have we though, James?" Kendall asked, letting out a sigh of his own. "I mean, we haven't really discovered anything new"

"No, but we have identified some new suspects to investigate" James replied, causing Kendall to let out another sigh. "Look, whatever happens, you'll be the first person I let know. Whether the commissioner gets rid of our deal or not, I'm still going to hold up my end and be honest with you. If he orders another raid on the garage to bring you in, I'll let you know immediately, so you can all get the hell out of there" James added, causing a small smile to grow on Kendall's face.

"Thanks, James" the blond replied, reaching over to place a hand on James' knee.

"Whatever the case is, I promise everything is going to be ok" James reassured, leaning over to place a chaste kiss on Kendall's cheek. "But let's not worry about that for the moment. Instead, we should focus on winning this race!" James continued, causing a grin to grow on Kendall's face, as he put his foot down.

The Audi's engine roared once again, Kendall taking advantage of the speed it had given him to close the distance between him and the two cars that stood in the way of his $180,000. Still, as the blond did that, he couldn't help but reflect on the news that he'd been told, and an unsettling feeling sat in his stomach as he did.

The blond knew something was up with this whole thing, but what he couldn't figure out was what it was.

* * *

As Kendall gained on the two cars ahead of him, he noticed that the battle between them was raging quite significantly.

"Wait, is that WayneWayne's car?" James asked, causing Kendall's eyes to focus on the Nissan ahead of them. "It is. That prick, how'd he managed to get ahead of us?"

"Probably while we were outrunning the cop. Let's just say I didn't take the most efficient of routes in my panic" Kendall replied, causing James to nod beside him.

"Well, you've overtaken that prick once, so I'm positive you can do it again" the brunet replied, causing a smile to grow on Kendall's face. Accelerator to the floor, Kendall gained pretty quickly on the two cars, but as he approached the two of them from the back, they immediately went on the defensive, driving right next to each other to stop him from getting past.

While they were doing this, they were also battling each other, with WayneWayne zig-zagging to both stop Kendal getting past and to ram into the car next to him, hoping to deter them from pushing onwards. Still, Kendall knew his best shot at victory was to stick behind them and wait for him perfect opportunity to overtake the two of them at once.

As a corner approached, Kendall decided to go to wide on it, hoping that it would provide him with his chance. The blond suspected that WayneWayne and his rival would try and go tight round the bend since it was the shortest and the fastest course, but Kendall knew that by going wide, he'd also be able to scout out the road ahead so that he knew what to expect. So, with the corner approached, Kendall went as far to the right as possible, but the blond was shocked when he saw that the rival was doing exactly the same thing. That meant that a gap appeared in between WayneWayne and his rival, and Kendall took full advantage of this, going back on his plan as he slotted the Audi perfectly in between the two cars.

As soon as the corner straightened up once again, Kendall pushed the Audi even harder, the car speeding ahead of the other two, and just in time as well, as it seemed WayneWayne and his rival both had the same plan to crush Kendall in between them. With Kendall gone, however, the two cars only crashed into each other while the blond sped away.

Of course, as soon as the blond was in the lead, all of the attention was focused on him, and boy could he feel it. Both cars behind him stopped battling each other, their engines revving as they began to chase Kendall down the boulevard they were currently driving along. Kendall tried his hardest to say in front, the blond constantly checking his rearview mirror for any signs of his two opponents while also swerving in between and around the traffic that was also occupying the road. James was right there beside him, the brunet trying his best to read the other drivers for any signs of immediate action, as well as keeping Kendall updated on their position, and the two of them worked perfectly in synchronisation with each other.

All was going well, and with the finish line on the horizon, both of them were certain that they had the best chance of winning this race. The distance grew between Kendall and the two racers, the blond taking advantage of the traffic surrounding them to slow WayneWayne and the other racer down, while James was making sure to keep updated on any information that may provide useful to them, as well as watching the body language of the other racers to see if he could tell anything about them.

With the finish line about a hundred metres away, James and Kendall couldn't help but glance at each other, the grins on their faces saying all that needed to be said between them.

It was all ruined however when the engine began to splutter, before cutting out completely, killing everything in the car.

"What the hell has happened?" James asked, frantically glancing around in the car for some sort of sign.

"I'm pretty sure that the engine has just given out of us," Kendall replied, twisting the key in the ignition in the hopes that the car would start up again.

"So, we're fucked" James replied, causing Kendall to shake his head, the blond frantically twisting the key in the ignition while constantly checking the rear-view mirror.

"We're a good distance ahead. Hopefully, we'll have enough momentum to get us across the finish line before they catch up" Kendall replied, causing James to turn to the blond with his eyebrow raised. "What, it's the best I've got" Kendall shrugged, causing James to roll his eyes as he sat back in the chair, as the blond watched the speedometer drop.

60,

55,

50,

45

The meter dropped, and the blond could see the finish line, about 30 meters ahead.

The blond crossed his fingers as he watched WayneWayne getting closer and closer and just as they crossed the finish line, WayneWayne was parallel to them, meaning that neither of them had a clue what had happened. Finally applying the brakes, the Audi come to a complete stop as the rest of the crew came rushing over to them.

"What the fuck happened?" Lucy asked as Kendall got out of the door, causing him to shrug as he got down onto his knees to inspect the underside of the car. The issue was obvious to the blond as soon as he spotted it.

"The cop ramming us caused the fuel line to come undone, and the engine shut down completely" Kendall replied, pushing himself up off the floor as he spoke.

"Well, it was quite literally a photo finish, but I've got the results here" Logan spoke up, coming over with his laptop in hand. "And I'm grateful to say that you won" Logan continued, flipping the laptop around to show both Kendall and James the image of the Audi's front bumper crossing the finish line first, about a centimetre or two in front of WayneWayne.

"We did it! Oh god, we fucking did it!" Kendall enthused, as James rushed over to him and pulled him into a huge hug.

"You mean you did it! This was all you Kendall!" the brunet replied as the two of them held each other in their arms.

"The fuck!" the two of them heard shouted from the other side of the marina, causing them to separate as they looked around. It wasn't difficult for them to find who'd shouted it, especially when a very pissed off WayneWayne was walking right over to them.

Rolling their eyes, the two of them began to make their way over to the aggressive driver, all three of them meeting halfway.

"The fuck did you win! I definitely passed over that finish line before you pricks did" The Nissan driver began, causing Kendall and James to roll their eyes once again.

"Photo's don't like WayneWayne. Now, just graciously accept that I'm a better driver than you, and we can part ways civilly" Kendall replied, causing WayneWayne to take an aggressive step forward. Of course, as soon as that was done, James stepped forward, hoping to intimidate him.

"I wouldn't think about it if I were you," the brunet said, but WayneWayne didn't listen, instead launching a fist in James' direction. The brunet reacted fast, grabbing WayneWayne's wrist before twisting it so that James was now behind the Nissan driver, WayneWayne's arm now behind his back. "I told you not to think about it" Jams growled, twisting WayneWayne's wrist slightly so that the prick winced in pain. "Now, I suggest that when I let you go, you walk away. The next time, I won't hesitate" James continued, finally letting go of WayneWayne's wrist.

As soon as he did that, WayneWayne skulked away, spitting at the ground in front of Kendall's feet before he did so and with him gone, James finally looked over at the blond, who had his eyebrow raised.

"You didn't need to protect me," the blond said, causing James to let out a little chuckle.

"I have training" James shrugged, causing Kendall to let out a little chuckle as he got closer to the detective.

"Well, it was hot as fuck seeing you like that" Kendall replied, causing a grin to grow on James' face as the two of them both went in for a kiss, not separating until someone cleared their throat behind them.

Splitting up, they both saw Lucy staring at them with her eyebrow raised. "I just thought I'd let you know that we've collected the money, and we've managed to do a temporary fix on your car James. It won't last forever, however, so we'll need to get it back to the garage" Lucy said, causing James to flash her a little smile.

"I appreciate the fix, but I've got somewhere to be at the moment, so I'll have to hold on bringing it back to the garage" he replied, causing Kendall to glance up at him, while Lucy nodded.

"Alright, but just make sure that it's in there by tonight, although I have to admit, I'll be surprised if it lasts that long" she replied, causing James to nod before she walked away.

Glancing back down at Kendall, he saw that the blond had his eyebrow raised. "You're gonna head back to the station right now?" Kendall asked quietly, but James could still hear the judgement in this voice.

"I need to" the brunet replied, letting out a sigh. "If the commissioner is now involved, it means that it's serious Kendall, and I don't want to risk pissing him off by not turning up as soon as I could." James continued, causing Kendall to roll his eyes slightly as he looked down at the ground. That's when James let out another sigh as he put his finger under Kendall's chin so that Kendall would look at him again. "Besides, I need to know what he's got planned for you guys. If the commissioner is planning to pull the plug on my whole plan and is gonna come after you, I'd rather know about it as soon as I could"

"Alright, I suppose that's fair" Kendall conceded, causing a small smile to grow on James' face. "But please just to convince him that your plan is going well. The last thing we all need right now is to have to abandon Lucy's garage and go on the run" Kendall continued, causing James to nod, before leaning down to place a kiss on Kendall's lips.

"I promise, I will try my best and keep you up to date with what's going on" James replied, causing Kendall to nod. Placing one last kiss onto the blond's lips, James headed back over to the Audi and turned the key in the ignition.

Thankfully, the car came to life this time, causing James to let out a sigh as he pulled away from the Marina. As soon as he was out of sight, James put the earphone in. "Camille, I'm on my way back now. Please tell me the commissioner is still there."

"Oh, he's still here alright, and he's currently having an argument with Gustavo. Are you sure you want to do this now?" Camille asked, causing James to let out a sigh.

"Better now than never. Besides, how bad could it possibly go?" James replied, causing Camille to let out a deep breath, and that was all the answer he needed.

Just from that, James knew that this was going to be a difficult fight to win.

* * *

 **So there we have it! James and Kendall won the race, despite the fact that the engine completely gave out on them, and we also found out who ordered the cop to go after James, with it being the Commissioner, so now James is gonna have to defend his plan once again in the hopes that everything works out!**

 **I want to say a massive thank you to Guest, Winterschild11, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter, and I'm so glad that you enjoyed the last chapter! You seemed to hope that Gustavo wasn't the one who ordered to cop to come after them, and of course, we now know that it wasn't. Still, that doesn't mean that all of the danger is over 😈**

 **I hope that you are all having a good week and I will see you at some point this week, when I upload the next chapter of The New Frontier, as that will definitely be out by the end of the week. But until then,**

 **TTFN 😃🚗**


	24. Chapter 24

**Hi Guys and welcome back to Rush and Response! So this chapter picks up right where the last one left off, so let's crack on with it, shall we?**

* * *

James didn't waste any time as he returned to the station, the brunet parking his Audi as close to the lift as he possibly could, before jumping out of it, almost forgetting to turn off the ignition. The longest part of his journey was probably the lift ride up to his floor, and once he was there, he headed straight for Gustavo's office, Camille joining him as he walked past her desk.

"Do you know what those two are arguing about?" James asked, causing Camille to shake her head, slotting her laptop under her arm as she did so.

"I'm guessing about the case. I mean, the guy did just barge in here and flaunt his authority, telling one of the junior officers to get him the files for every single case that's currently active. That's when he called me into Gustavo's office and told the two of us what he'd done, ordering those officers" Camille replied, causing James to nod as he glanced around the precinct briefly.

He wasn't in here a lot, but he could definitely tell that the atmosphere was different. "And how long have they been arguing for?"

"Ever since I left the office and updated you, so what? A good 15, 20 minutes maybe. However long it's been, I know they haven't come to an agreement about anything"

"I thought you said the commissioner had agreed to my plan preliminarily?" James asked, causing Camille to let out a small sigh.

"Preliminarily as in the end of the race. That's why you had to come in now" She replied just as the two of them approached the office door. "So, you ready to face the music?"

"Better now than later" James replied, causing Camille to nod as she knocked on the door and pushed it open, allowing her and James into the tense situation. The arguing between the commissioner and Gustavo stopped for a brief second while the door was open, but as soon as it was closed again, the commissioner spoke up.

"Ah, Detective Diamond, the officer that is actively encouraging criminal activity, how nice of you to finally join us," The commissioner said, James trying his best not to roll his eyes.

"Commissioner Griffin, I hadn't expected to see you, nor for you to involve yourself in this case" James replied, and he could see from the commissioner's face that that had gone down well.

"Well, I wasn't going to. But when I was informed that nothing has been achieved, considering you still have no official suspects, I thought that it was about time that I intervened. After all, you have been here for a few months now, and it seems that all you've actively achieved is releasing 5 street racers back onto the street after they were arrested"

"If you'd listened to what I had said, then you'd know that we have a plan for those racers" Gustavo spoke up, causing Griffin to roll his eyes.

"I'm aware of this plan, and my point still stands" Griffin replied, dropping the file onto the table. "But from what I've read, it seems that these racers are currently getting a better deal out of this arrangement than you are, considering they're free on the streets, and you still have nothing"

"We don't have 'nothing'" James snapped back, quickly getting fed up of Griffin's tone. "Unfortunately, in order for this investigation to work, someone needs to get their hands dirty and become involved in the street racing community. I have achieved that, and by working with one of them on this investigation, I am able to get the benefit of their knowledge. After all, we don't know a whole lot about the community, and this racer does." James continued, reaching for the file as he spoke. "This investigation isn't one that you can just throw a large number of police resources at, as it will get you nowhere, much like it did over the couple of months before I arrived. You need someone on the inside, who has connections to the Crime boss that we can utilise to gain information. As well as that, by competing in these races, we're created a catalogue of potential suspects, both for the murders and for general street racing charges, which is aiding the investigation. But since you've reviewed the file, you must know that." James finished, pulling out one sheet in particular. "Also, I'd like to point out that our arrest rate for racers has gone up by since I've been undercover, with 10 racers alone being arrested during this race."

"While I agree with you that someone undercover is a wise idea, hence why I was the one who suggested it, I still believe that the street racers shouldn't have been involved. After all, for you all know, he could be reporting everything back to the Crime Boss. Those racers should have been arrested and charged when they were taken into custody and you should have asserted yourself into another crew. That way, there would have been no risk of your identity being exposed"

"That's ridiculous" James replied, cutting the commissioner off. "I'd already made a connection with these racers, people had seen me racing with them. If they were arrested, and I was suddenly looking for another crew, it would have been suspicious, and nobody would have considered taking me in out of risk. The best thing we did was allow those racers back onto the streets, with one of them working with us. That way, it doesn't look suspicious, and we have inside knowledge"

"Yes, you've said this all before" Griffin spoke up, cutting James off this time.

"I agree with the detective" Gustavo spoke, causing James' eyes to go wide for a brief second. "At first, I wasn't convinced by the plan either, but this is actually working in our favour. Like Detective Diamond has said, our arrest rate for the racers has gone up, and despite what you think, we've got a number of new leads to consider."

"I third that," Camille said, causing everyone to glance over at her. "Mr Knight is providing us with a lot of information that he hadn't considered before, as well as what is now our biggest lead, with Wallace Patrick Dooley" Camille continued, pulling his file up. "He's got the motive and the opportunity to complete these murders and his driving style suggests that he's used to the aggressive driving style our murder uses"

"I'm still not entirely convinced. This racer could be working with the Crime Boss to ensure that we arrest the wrong guy, or that our investigation isn't achieving anything" Griffin spoke up, causing James to roll his eyes.

 _'The same could be said for someone in this precinct'_ Kendall voice said in James' mind, causing James to let out a little sigh at how true it was.

"But since this racer has a direct connection to the Crime Boss, he may be useful to keep around. Whether he is manipulating you or not, you may still be able to get some information out of him that is helpful. For the time being, I will allow you to continue with this plan, but I expect you to be completely truthful with me detective, and I want you to know that this is your job on the line. If something goes wrong, then you should be prepared to accept full responsibility for it, as well as all the punishment that accompanies it."

"I understand, and if you don't interfere unannounced again, then we shouldn't have any issues" James replied, briefly glancing to Gustavo, who gave him a subtle nod, and Camille, who was trying to stop a smirk from growing on her face. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to head to a garage to get my car fixed, after you know, an officer rammed it to pieces. Hopefully, no major damage has been done, or that could pose a real issue" James finished, before turning and headed out of the office, Camille on his heels.

"Well, that went well," She said, her voice laced with sarcasm, causing James to let out a little scoff.

"I didn't realise that the commissioner was such a dick. Still, thank you for backing me up, although I have to admit, I'm surprised Gustavo did the same"

"He knows we've got a good thing going at the moment, and we're getting results back from it" Camille replied, causing James to let out another scoff.

"Not according to the commissioner," James said, causing Camille to let out a little chuckle as they reached her desk again.

"I'll let you know if anything changes. Now, I recommend you get out of here and get that car fixed before I start to kick your ass"

"Hey, it wasn't my fault. If anything, it's Kendall, since he was driving"

"I'll remember that the next time I see him" She replied, causing James to let out a little chuckle before he made his way back to the lift.

As the doors closed, James let out a sigh. It certainly wasn't the best situation to be in, with the commissioner now basically breathing down his neck, but he also wasn't the worst, since he was still able to do what he was doing. This internal debate pretty much filled James' drive to Stone's Auto Repair, where he was greeted with Lucy as he drove into the garage.

"Thanks for doing this for me," James said, causing Lucy to let out a little chuckle.

"Oh, I won't be doing anything, Kendall can work on it tomorrow. I just didn't want it out on the streets in this condition" Lucy replied, causing a small smile to grow on James' face at her honestly.

"Speaking of Kendall, where is he?"

"Why, want another make-out session?" Lucy asked, causing James to roll his eyes as she let out a little chuckle. "He went home, I'm guessing he's tired from all the driving. Now here" she continued, passing him a pair of keys. "These are for the Focus, so you'll be able to get home tonight. But I want it back by mid-day tomorrow"

"Thanks Lucy," James said, causing a small grin to grow on her face.

"Don't mention it" she replied, nodding to James one final time before she disappeared, leaving James alone with the Audi.

Emptying everything from the glove box, just for safety sakes, James headed over to the Focus and began his journey home, his mind curious as to what Kendall was doing in that current moment.

* * *

Kendall let out a sigh of relief as he opened the door to his apartment, the blond grateful to finally have a few minutes to relax. After all that driving from the race and the pressure placed on him to win it, the blond was relishing in the chance to have a few minutes to relax and not worry about anything.

Shutting the door behind him, Kendall threw his backpack onto the sofa as he headed straight into the bedroom, where he could get changed into something comfier and as he slipped on his tracksuit bottoms, his phone began to ring. Thinking that it was going to be James ringing him to tell him about the meeting with Griffin, Kendall picked up the phone.

"Hello?" the blond said, but when no one said anything on the other side of the phone, Kendall pulled the object way from his ear to see that it had no caller ID. "Hello?" Kendall asked again, and this time the person on the other side of the phone spoke up.

"I always thought this was a bit cliché, the ominous phone call but it works wonders at making people anxious," the voice said, and Kendall could tell that the person was using a voice modulator to disguise what they sounded like.

"Who is this? Is this a prank?" Kendall replied, but deep down, the blond knew exactly who it was, he just didn't want to admit it.

"Come on Kendall, you know exactly who I am, just like I know exactly who you are" the voice replied, causing Kendall to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat as he dropped down onto the side of the bed.

"What do you want? I've been paying all my money on time, and I've even been completing the drug runs like I've been told to do"

"Yes, you definitely have been a good boy" the Crime Boss replied, causing a shiver to work its way down Kendall's back at the way it was said. "And I see that you've become quite skilled at street racing. I mean during the race today, you pulled off some pretty ballsy moves, getting past that Nissan driver the day you did, as well as stopping that poor innocent family from getting hurt. And you even won the race when your car died, but it's such a shame that the fuel line had to come undone like that"

"How did you know about that?" Kendall asked, his throat becoming very dry very quickly.

"I have people everywhere Kendall. It's just like I know that you got your friend to hack into the cop car's system to stop it from chasing you. Again, a pretty ballsy move considering that's banned during street racing"

"Is that why your calling? To tell me that you want the $180,000 back?" Kendall said, causing the Crime Boss to let out a deep laugh on the other side of the phone.

"I'm going to get that money back anyway, considering all of your little crew are indebted to me anyway, but no, that's not why I'm calling. I'm calling to offer you a job, well, it's more of a promotion, so to speak" the voice said, Kendall letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding in. "If you leave your bedroom and go into your kitchen, in the top drawer next to the oven, you'll find a burner phone, go and get it for me" the voice said, and immediately all of the hairs of the back of Kendall's neck stood up, at the fact that he was being watched.

Worried about what would happen if he refused, the blond pushed himself up from his bed and cautiously began to make his way through his apartment into his kitchen, constantly looking out of his windows for someone watching him.

"What's wrong Kendall, you look nervous? All I'm asking is for you to get a phone" the Crime Boss said, something that only made Kendall even more anxious. Finally reaching the kitchen, Kendall headed straight for the draw in question. "That's the one," the Crime Boss said into his ear as the blond opened the draw and pulled the phone out, placing it on the worktop. "Now, this promotion is pretty simple. When the time comes, that phone will ring, and all I need you to do is to listen to the instructions you'll be given and carry them out no questions asked. That's it, see it's easy, and the plus side of this all is that when you do that, all of your debts will be paid off in full, so you'll no longer owe me anything. Isn't that great?"

"What will they asked me to do?" Kendall replied, causing the voice to tut on the other side of the phone.

"That's not part of the deal Kendall. No questions asked remember?" the Crime Boss said, causing Kendall to look down at the phone, horror all over his face. "So what do you say? Are you in?" the Crime Boss asked, causing Kendall to swallow yet another lump in his throat as he nodded.

"Yeah, I'm in"

"Perfect! Like I said, just answer the whole when the time comes, and do what is asked" the Crime Boss said, before the phone cut off completely, leaving Kendall stunned in his kitchen as he stared at the phone in question.

It took him a few minutes to finally regain any semblance of control and as soon as he had it, Kendall found himself going around his apartment closing all of the blinds and curtains that it contained. Still, that didn't help the blond feel any safer, if anything, it actually made him feel worse, knowing that now no one could see him if anything happened.

The fact that the phone was planted in Kendall's apartment kept playing on his mind, with the blond knowing that someone had been in here without his permission, and if that had happened once, then surely it could happen again at any moment. That wasn't the only thing on his mind however, with the words 'I have people everywhere Kendall' going round and round his head. The blond was right, the Crime Boss must have someone in the police force, and while Kendall didn't want to jump to conclusions, his mind kept coming back to Gustavo.

Something about him just felt off, and it put Kendall on edge constantly. Then again, after that phone call, it was safe to say that Kendall would probably be on edge now constantly anyway, constantly suspicious of who he was talking to, and yet despite that, his mind kept coming back to one person that he should tell about this.

Probably the person he had the most reason to distrust, yet didn't.

James.

The brunet had actively lied to him about racer, and yet at this moment, Kendall could think of no one that he felt safer with. Sending a message to James, which read 'We need to talk. Meet me at the spot,' Kendall grabbed his keys, the burner phone and some duct tape before locking his apartment, not that the blond thought it would do much good, and made his way to his car.

As soon as he was in, the doors were locked, and Kendall began his journey to the waterfall, the blond constantly checking to see if anyone was following him as paranoia played rampant on his mind.

* * *

 **So there we have it! Commissioner Griffin has agreed to let James carry on with his plan, but has stated that if anything goes wrong, it's James' job on the line, and Kendall has been contacted by the Crime Boss after winning the race, and has been asked to perform a task when the time comes. What this task will be however is a mystery!**

 **I want to give a massive thank you to Winterschild11, Guest, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter and I'm so glad that you enjoyed it! You all seemed curious as to what is going to happen with the Commissioner, but I have to admit, I think he's made a mild start in his story. That doesn't mean that he's not going to get any worse however!**

 **I will see you all on Monday for the next chapter of Blizzard, which is the aftermath of the Inferno fight but until then,**

 **TTFN 😃🚗**


	25. Chapter 25

**Hi Guys and welcome back to Rush and Response! I don't have a lot to say here to say today, so let's crack on shall we?**

* * *

As James made his way up to the waterfall, having debated what Kendall meant by 'the spot,' he couldn't help but wonder what this meeting was about. Sure, he hadn't updated Kendall on the situation with Griffin just yet, but then again, he had only just arrived back at his apartment. Just as the brunet was pulling into the underground garage, he'd received Kendall's message, so it wasn't like he'd had time to update Kendall.

Still, the brunet knew at the back of his mind that that wasn't it, that something big must have been playing on Kendall's mind for him to send such an urgent text. As James pulled up to the waterfall, he saw the blond's Mustang, so he decided to pull up next to it.

After a quick glance, however, it was easy to tell that Kendall wasn't in the car, causing James to cut the ignition of the Focus before he climbed out, locking the car behind him. Scanning around for the blond, James saw him stood a little bit closer to the waterfall than cars could go, causing James to climb over the safety rail as he approached the blond.

"Kendall?" James asked, causing the blond to jump as he turned to face James, his features relaxing as soon as he noticed it was the brunet. "What are you doing over here?"

"There are no cameras, so no one can see me," Kendall said, causing James to raise his eyebrow at the blond. "You also don't have the Audi, so we don't have to worry about anyone listening in" Kendall continued, and it was when Kendall said that, that James knew something was up.

"What's wrong? You seem scared" James said, causing Kendall to reach into his pocket and pull out a phone with the microphone and speakers covered in tape.

"I didn't want them to be able to listen in to what I was saying, so I covered it in tape," Kendall replied, before stuffing the phone back into his pocket.

"Don't want who to listen to what you say? Kendall, you're starting to worry me slightly, is everything alright?" James asked, causing Kendall to shake his head.

"They called me James when I got back to my apartment. I thought it was you ringing about the commissioner, so I answered it, but it wasn't, it was them"

"Who's them, Kendall? I'm confused"

"The Crime Boss James" Kendall whispered, causing James' eyes to widen as Kendall continued. "They knew everything. They knew that the car had died from the fuel line breaking, they knew that Logan has hacked into the police car to stop it and they knew that I'd prevented us from crashing into an innocent family."

"God Kendall, what did they want?" James asked, reaching out to pull the blond into a hug, hoping to calm Kendall slightly, who had now started to shake ever so slightly.

"They said that they had a promotion for me, one final job that would clear my debt completely"

"What did they want you to do?" James asked, and he could feel Kendall shrug into him.

"I don't know. All they said was that when the time comes, the burner phone would ring and all I had to do was listen to the instructions I was given and carry them out no questions asked. But, someone had been in my apartment James, and The Crime Boss was watching me. The Crime Boss asked me to leave my bedroom and go to the draw in my kitchen, where the phone was. Someone had been in my apartment to put the phone there, and the Crime Boss was narrating as I walked to the drawer. It's why I had to cover it in duct tape, they could be using it to listen to me, but I needed to tell someone, tell you what they'd said to me"

"Are you sure no one is watching you now?" James asked, causing Kendall to nod into his chest.

"That's why I chose this spot. We're out of view of the cameras, and I can see the road coming up here. No one else is parked in the carpark and that the only place you'd be able to see us up here" Kendall replied, causing James to nod as he let out a deep breath, thinking over what Kendall had told him.

Knowing what the right thing to do was, James, let out a sigh. "We need to tell the police about this. There may be some way to trace the Crime Boss from the phone call, and even if there isn't, they'll want to know that you've been contacted"

"We can't," Kendall said, causing James to let out another sigh as he rubbed his forehead.

"We need to, Kendall. I agreed with Griffin that I needed to be honest with him about the case. Otherwise, he's gonna pull the plug on everything"

"I don't trust them James" Kendall replied, pushing out of the hug slightly as he could look up at James. "The Crime Boss said that they 'have people everywhere' so it's a safe bet that they have someone in the police force. Oh god James, what if that's why they called me? They already know that I'm working for the police and this is all a trick to get me alone so that they can kill me? Oh god, I'm freaking out, James that's it. This is all their elaborate plan to get me killed. I don't want to die James, I don't wanna die"

"Hey, hey, it's all ok, you're not gonna die Kendall" James replied, pulling the blond in close once again in the hopes to help calm him down. "It's all gonna be ok Kendall, I promise you"

"You can't know that" Kendall replied, causing James to let out a sigh, as he tilted Kendall's head up slightly.

"I do Kendall, you're gonna be ok," James said, placing a kiss onto Kendall's lips which helped calm the blond down a little bit. "And even if you're right about someone in the police force being corrupt, I still think we need to tell them about this. This is a major lead Kendall, and it could turn out to be a breakthrough for us" James continued, but just as Kendall was about to protest, James spoke up again. "But that doesn't mean that we can't come up with a plan of our own. You know, to try and flush out his mole. If you're right, and someone in the police force is working for the Crime Boss, then the best thing we can do is try and figure out who it is. We can come up with our own plan, and we won't tell anyone else about it. That way we can be sure that no one else knows what we're actually up to. Is that alright?" James asked, causing Kendall to nod. "Trust me, Kendall, I will be by your side for this entire thing."

"Thank you James" Kendall said, feeling slightly calmer than he did before, although still clinging to James. "I'm just so scared about everything going on. I mean, what if the Crime Boss does know about me working with the police."

"Then we'll deal with that if slash when the times comes. I promise you, Kendall, I'm not going to let anything happened to you, no matter what the police force says" James replied, causing Kendall to glance up at him.

"And what did they say? How'd the meeting with the Commissioner go?" Kendall asked, trying to change the subject in order to calm himself down further, although he was still keeping an eye out over James' shoulder for anyone watching them.

"I wasn't as bad as it could have been" James replied, letting out a sigh as he spoke. "The Commissioner has decided that we can continue to follow my plan because he believes that while you may be manipulating me, you could still provide some useful information. He's also decided however that I need to be completely honest with him when it comes to the case, and that if anything goes wrong, then I'm fully responsible for it, and should be prepared to expect punishment for it"

"He sounds like a dick" Kendall mumbled, causing James to let out a little chuckle.

"He is, but what I can't get my head around is why he's decided to involve himself in the case, and why now specifically" James replied, causing Kendall to shrug in his arms, the blond still looking over James' shoulder.

"Maybe he's the one the Crime Boss was talking about. Maybe this whole thing is a plan to stop the investigation completely, by stopping it on your end, and on mine" Kendall replied, the panic seeping in again. "Could we go somewhere else? I feel like we've been up here alone for too long."

"Yeah, we can head back into the city if you want. Do you wanna head to mine maybe? That way you don't have to go back to your place by yourself?" James asked, causing Kendall to nod into him.

"Yeah, sounds good, I'll follow you" the blond replied, causing the two of them to separate out of the hug before making their way back over to their cars, Kendall constantly checking for people watching them.

As they climbed into their respective cars, James could see the fear that Kendall held in his eyes, so the brunet knew he needed to make this journey as quick as he possibly could.

* * *

James could see the weight lifted of Kendall's shoulders as they made up to James' apartment, and to put the blond more at ease, James heading straight over to the windows, where he drew the curtains closed to prevent anyone from watching them. When he turned around, the brunet was greeted with the sight of Kendall yawning, causing a small smile to grow on James' face at how cute the blond looked.

"Come on, I'll show you to the bedroom. You can sleep in my bed tonight since you need it more than I do" James said, causing Kendall to shake his head briefly before another yawn took over. James didn't wait for the blond to reply this time, instead making his way to the bedroom, Kendall following behind. "So, the bathroom is through there and I'll be on the couch, so just shout if you need anything," James said, but just as he was about to walk out of the room, Kendall stopped him.

"The bed is huge, I'm sure we could share it" Kendall replied, causing a small smile to grow on James' face once again. A small part of him was hoping that Kendall would say something like that, so he was grateful that the blond had. He wasn't looking forward to sleeping on the couch.

"As long as you're sure" James replied, and when Kendall nodded once again, James didn't question, the brunet instead making his way over to the right side of the bed. Perching himself on the edge, James sorted himself off, taking off his shoes, jeans and finally his top. Kendall followed a similar pattern, but the blond couldn't help himself when he saw that James was taking his top off, stopping what he was doing to watch James' back muscles flex as the brunet pulled the shirt over his head before James rolled his shoulder.

A small blush settled on Kendall's cheeks, the blond no longer feel tired, and feeling like he made the right choice asking James to share the bed with him, but as soon as Kendall saw James turning around, he averted his gaze, pretending that he was still getting undressed. By the time the blond was in his boxers, James was already settled under the cover, causing Kendall to slip in next to him, slightly nervous about what might happen.

Sure, the two of them were technically together, but they're hadn't really been any action between the two of them, apart from a subtle kiss here, or a hug there. The most they'd done with each other was made out on Kendall's car, before James had revealed that he was an undercover cop, causing the blond to become slightly anxious at what might happen.

Kendall rolled his eyes at the feeling, shuffling in the bed slightly. He was acting like a teenager that had never done this type of thing before, and it was safe to say that he had far better things to worry about than whether he'd sleep with James or not tonight, mainly the fact that the Crime Boss had contacted him with a job of unknown description. Kendall sighed, rolling over in the bed, where he was greeted with James' face on the other pillow, the brunet flashing him a small smile.

"You alright? You seem a little nervous?" James asked, causing a small blush to work its way on the blond's face, because of how well James could read him.

"Yeah, I'm alright" Kendall replied, letting out a sigh as he did so. "I'm just a little worried about it all, that's all. I mean, I've never been contacted by the Crime Boss directly before, and the fact that they know everything has freaked me out slightly" Kendall replied, repeating what he'd said before at the waterfall as if to cover him what he was really nervous about. James just raised his eyebrow at the blond, questioning what he'd said before he responded.

"I would try not to worry about it too much tonight. I know that isn't the best advice but at the moment, that stuff is out of your control. Starting tomorrow, we can figure out a plan to try and find if there is a crook cop in the precinct, but as I said, there's not much you can do about it now. Just try to relax and get some rest. I promise if anything happens, then I'm here to protect you"

"I don't need you to protect me" Kendall replied, repeating the same thing that he'd said to James at the end of the race, causing a grin to grow on James' face. "But thank you, James, for doing all of this for me. It means a lot that you came to meet me, and are letting me stay here the night. Not many people would put up with it"

"Hey, don't mention it, and you know that you can rely on me right? Whatever you need Kendall, I'll try my best to get it for you, or do it for you" James replied, causing a small blush to grow on Kendall's cheeks once again.

"Thank you, James," Kendall said once again, before leaning forward to place a chaste kiss onto James' lips.

As the blond pulled away, he saw the look in James' eyes, one that he shared, so it didn't take much for him to lean in again, their lips locking as Kendall found himself kicking off the covers before rolling on top of James so that he was straddling him. All of Kendall's, and James', inhibitions disappeared immediately as the two of them settled into a rhythm, with Kendall's hands exploring James' chiselled torso while James' hand explored Kendall's back, pulling the blond in as close as he could before swiping his tongue across Kendall's bottom lip.

That was enough to cause the blond to moan, and James took full advantage of that, his tongue working its way into Kendall's mouth, where the two of them engaged in a battle of dominance, one that Kendall was very happy to lose, he just didn't want to admit it.

Luckily for him, James quickly took control, guiding the kiss, his hands now firmly placed on Kendall's ass, his fingers slowly pushing against Kendall's hole through his underwear.

The blond moaned at the action once again, this time pulling out of the kiss completely as he did so, arching his back in pleasure, causing a grin to grow on James' face. With one hand occupied, James' other found its way to the bedside table, where he reached into his top drawer and pulled out some condoms and lube. The action caused Kendall to raise his eyebrow slightly.

"You have people around often?" the blond asked, causing James to shake his head.

"Just wanted to be prepared" James replied, and without giving Kendall the chance to reply, James pushed a finger against Kendall's hole once again, causing the blond to moan once again, a mischievous grin growing on James' face as he did so. "Fuck I want you"

"Then take me" Kendall replied, leaning down to capture James' mouth in a kiss before the blond raised his hips slightly allowing him to slide his underwear off, revealing himself to the brunet completely.

A part of Kendall was slightly nervous about doing so, but when James' eagerness increased, Kendall matched it, reaching around his back to grab James' hands, moving them from his ass onto his hips.

Pulling out of the kiss, Kendall reached over to the lube and when James' eyebrow raised at the action, a mischievous grin grew on Kendall's face once again as he poured some onto his hands, rubbing them together to warm the lube slightly, before he reached behind himself and pushed a finger into his hole, moaning at the action. James' eye's widened, watching as Kendall fingered himself on top of him, and it was safe to say that if he wasn't hard before, he definitely was now.

James was in awe as he watched Kendall, the blond looking as beautiful as ever as his hips rolled back onto his fingers, and his face was filled with a small smirk, the blond knowing exactly what he was doing the brunet, teasing him just enough to make him want more. What Kendall didn't expect however was when James leant forward and took his hard cock into his mouth, Kendall's mouth dropping at the action as he felt the wet heat of James' mouth engulf him.

The pleasure caused a familiar stirring to behind Kendall's stomach, with the blond rolling his hips forward to push his cock deeper into James' mouth before rolling them back where he felt his own fingers pressing against his prostate as he opened himself up, and the blond knew if he wasn't careful, this was going to be over way too soon.

"Fuck, I need you in me," Kendall said breathlessly, causing James to pull off of Kendall's dick with an audible pop.

"You wanna ride me?" James asked, causing Kendall to nod as he pulled his fingers out before lifting his hips up once more to allow him to pull James' boxers off completely. The brunet's hard cock sprung free at its first chance, standing tall from his body and as if to tease the brunet more, Kendall couldn't help but lick it slightly, starting from its base and working his way up to the tip.

James shuddered at the action, his eyes rolling back from pleasure as Kendall reached over and grabbed the condoms and the lube from the bedside table. Pulling his mouth away, Kendall began to roll the condom down James' hard length and coating it in lube, before positioning himself above James, who had a massive grin on his face as his hands sat at Kendall's hips.

Reaching behind him, Kendall grabbed James' hard length and slowly sank down onto it, both of them letting out a groan of pleasure as he did so. Kendall's hole felt so tight around James, and the brunet had to use all of his might to stop himself from thrusting upwards, completely filling Kendall, who was still trying to adjust to the feeling. As Kendall completely bottomed out, he remained there for a few seconds, getting used to the feeling while he leant down to capture James' mouth in a kiss once again and as he did so, Kendall found his hips slowly rising and lowering back onto James' hard cock, causing him to let out a moan as he did so.

James was quick to catch onto Kendall's rhythm, pushing up as Kendall lowered himself, and pulling out as Kendall raised himself, and while the two of them started off slow, making the most of the feeling, they soon speed up, their actions becoming needy, as if they craved the feeling of the other. Kendall wrapped his hand around his own dick, jerking it in time with every thrust while his other hand was placed on James' pec to steady himself as their speed increased.

It wasn't long before that familiar feeling returned, both of them climbing towards their peak together, but it was Kendall who went over it first, his walls clenching as he let out a long moan, covering James' chest and his own with his seed as he tried his best to drag out his orgasm for as long as possible.

James wasn't far behind, hurling over as Kendall's wall clenched and the brunet's eyes rolled back in pleasure as he filled the condom, his thrusts into Kendall still ongoing to prolong his as well, but they were now slow and lazy as the euphoria passed through him.

As they both came down from their highs, Kendall dropped onto James' chest, while the brunet slowly pulled out of the blond and tied up the condom. Rolling Kendall back onto the bed, James mustered the energy to make his way into the bathroom, dropping the condom into the bin before grabbing a small washcloth to wipe them both down with.

When he returned, he saw that Kendall was soundly asleep, causing a small smile to grow on James' face as he gently wiped the already solidifying cum off of Kendall's chest. Rinsing off the washcloth, James quickly did the same to himself before throwing the object into the wash basket and heading back into bed.

As carefully as he could, James climbed back into the bed, and as soon as he did, he felt Kendall roll into him, the blond snuggling close to James' chest in his peaceful sleep.

With a smile on his face, James wrapped his arms around Kendall, a sign that he'd keep the blond safe before drifting into a peaceful slumber himself.

* * *

 **So there we have it! Kendall confessed to James about what was going on, and while they've both decided that they need to tell the police force, they've also decided to come up with a plan to help expose the crooked cop which Kendall is convinced the police force has! And of course, Kames finally did the deed, with the two of them sharing a bed for the night! I mean, we're about 88,000 words into this story, so I felt like it was about time the two of them finally had some action 😜**

 **I want to say a massive thank you to Winterschild11, Guest and RainbowDiamonds for reviewing the last chapter and I'm so glad that you enjoyed it! You were all sympathetic to Kendall, bless him, and there was even some speculation as what Kendall's task may be. No comments on that of course, but I will say that you won't have to wait very long to find out! Plus, you were also glad that James stood up to the Commissioner!, which of course, I had to make Griffin since he is pretty much the biggest dick of them all!**

 **I will see you all on Monday for the next chapter of Blizzard, which of course will answer the question of whether Kendall has been exposed or not, and I hope that you are all having a great week! But until then,**

 **TTFN 😃🚗**


	26. Chapter 26

**Hi Guys and welcome back to Rush and Response! I don't have a lot to say so let's crack on shall we?**

* * *

When James woke up the next morning to an empty bed, it was safe to say that his heart dropped in his chest for a brief second before he heard Kendall shuffling about in the kitchen causing James to let out a sigh. While he was acting calm about the whole situation with Kendall yesterday, trying to ensure the blond that everything was going to be ok, it was safe to say that James was slightly freaking out himself.

The brunet definitely hadn't expected for Kendall to be contacted by the Crime Boss directly, with him thinking that it would be through some contact like usual, so that was a shock to him at first, and what made it worse was Kendall sharing his theories about everything that had or could happen. The blond worrying about someone in the police force being corrupt was definitely something that James was starting to worry about more and more, and now that Kendall was convinced that someone had informed the Crime Boss of their plan, James was even more on edge about the whole thing.

Whatever the case may be, James was certain that he was going to work with Kendall to try and discover if a mole existed in the police force, and he'd do his best to expose them if that was the case. He also knew that he'd stop at nothing to protect the blond from any harm that would come his way, and that included sacrificing his badge and gun if the need arose.

Taking in a deep breath, trying not to think about that for the time being, James rolled out of bed and grabbed a pair of shorts and a tank top before making his way into his living room, where Kendall was stood in his small kitchenette, making them both a cup of coffee. When the blond heard someone enter the room, he turned to James, fear in his eyes for a brief second before he settled down, realising who it was.

"Morning," the blond said in a soft voice as James planted himself down on his sofa, Kendall coming over to join him with the cups of coffee in hand.

"How are you feeling today?" James asked, thanking Kendall for the coffee, before taking a sip of it.

"Hey, I'm ok" Kendall replied, sighing before he took a sip of his coffee. "I've calmed down a little since yesterday, and I've tried to focus on what you said, about how we'll come up with something to try and discover if someone in the police force is a mole." Kendall paused, taking another sip of his coffee. "I guess I'm still a little bit freaked out, mostly about the fact that the Crime Boss contacted me directly. I mean, I've never had anything like that happen before, and I'm just worried about what they're going to ask me to do. And someone was in my apartment James, that's freaking me out as well. Someone was in my apartment, walking around placing whatever they wanted wherever they wanted and looking at all the stuff I owned."

"Hey, hey, it's ok" James spoke up, placing his cup of coffee down onto the table before placing his hand onto Kendall's knee, seeing how the blond was getting worked up. "If it makes you feel any better, you can stay here until you want to return back to your apartment, and I'll stay by your side until you feel safe." James squeezed Kendall's knee, speaking up again. "And I promise you, we will find a way to identify this mole. Whatever it takes, I promise you, we'll do it"

"Thank you, James," Kendall said, causing James to flash him a small smile as he leant forward and placed a chaste kiss onto Kendall's lips. "Now about last night" Kendall continued, causing James to pull back, raising an eyebrow at him.

"What about it?" James asked, his heart beating rapidly in his chest as he waited for Kendall to answer his question.

"Relax" Kendall replied, taking James' hand into his own. "I just wanted to say that I enjoyed it, and I'm glad that we finally you know, got to spend some time together" The blond continued, causing a small smile to grow on James' face, the brunet leaning in again to place a kiss onto Kendall's lips once more.

"I'm glad as well" James replied, causing Kendall to flash him a small smile. "With everything that's been going on, we haven't really had the chance to just be us, so I'm glad that we could be just for a night"

"Yeah, so am I" Kendall replied, placing his hand on top of James' as they both smiled at each other for a brief second, Kendall's cheeks blushing before he looked down to the floor.

That's when James used his free hand, placing it under Kendall's chin so that the blond looked at him. With a small smile on his face, James began to lean in, Kendall doing the same thing before their lips connected, James quickly dominating the kiss. Grinning into it, James pushed Kendall down onto the sofa, before climbing on top of him, the two of them quickly getting lost in each other.

That all came to an end however when James' phone pinged, causing both of them to jump up startled, as Kendall frantically looked around. The curtains were still closed in James' apartment, but that still didn't stop Kendall from looking about, the blond now doing it like an automatic reaction.

"It's fine, it's only Lucy" James spoke up, grabbing his phone off of the table, as he sat back down on the sofa, Kendall sitting up next to him. "She's just reminding me that I need to get the Focus back to her for midday" James continued, causing Kendall to smile at him, the blond calming down slightly at the news.

"We should probably do as she says. You don't want to cross Lucy when it comes to her cars" Kendall replied, causing James to nod before leaning over and pressing a kiss onto Kendall's cheek.

"Come on, we might as well get ready. We've still got to go to the police station as well. Griffin won't be happy if he learns that I've kept this from him for too long" James said, causing Kendall to nod, the two of them both pushing themselves off of the sofa and heading into James' bedroom.

"You know, we might save time if we shower together" Kendall suggested, causing a grin to grow on James' face, the brunet following him into the bathroom, locking the door behind them.

* * *

"So, how fucked is it?" James asked as Kendall wheeled himself under the car on a dolly.

"Not totally fucked. The fuel line has just come loose, so it was stopping fuel from reaching the engine." Kendall replied, wheeling himself back out from under the car.

"So, is it going to take long to fix?" James asked, causing Kendall to let out a little chuckle.

"Depends on how good you are at installing fuel lines" the blond replied, causing James to raise an eyebrow at him.

"And how good are you?" James asked, causing Kendall to roll his eyes.

"It doesn't matter because I'm not the one doing it" the blond replied, kicking the dolly towards James.

"You want me to do it?" the brunet asked, causing Kendall to nod as he wiped some of the oil off of his hands.

"It is your car" Kendall replied, a smug look growing on his face as James began to roll up his sleeves.

"So, what am I doing slash looking for?" James asked as he pushed the dolly towards the car, before getting down into it, rolling himself under the car.

"So, first, I need you to the rubber hose that is hanging from the bottom of the car, follow it and pull it off of the pump" Kendall instructed, causing James to grab hold of the rubber hose before he used it to pull himself along, leading him along to an object.

"I think this is the fuel pump," James said from under the car, causing Kendall to raise his eyebrow at the brunet, not that James could see, knowing that it wasn't.

"Does the hose continue on the other side?" Kendall asked, causing James to reach over, letting out a sigh when he felt another hose.

"Yeah"

"That's the fuel vapour filter. I need you to disconnect it from that, and continue on" Kendall replied, causing James to nod under the car, noticing a few pieces of tape as he pulled the hose free from both ends before continuing along.

"You know, these are a lot easier to pull out than I expected," James said from under the car, causing a small smile to grow on Kendall's face.

"That's because the line's ruptured. Normally, it's a lot more difficult to get them loose"

"Oh…I suppose that makes sense" James replied from under the car, causing Kendall to try and stop himself from laughing. "Alright, I think I'm at the pump now," James said, before pulling the hose free from it as well as making sure that it wasn't connected on the other side.

When all he felt was a solid object, James tried to wheel himself out from under the car, but as he did so, he felt some resistance.

"Remember that the fuel line is still connected to the engine on this side, so you'll have to disconnect it from there as well" Kendall said, noticing how James was slightly rolling back and forth, causing James to let out a sigh, throwing away the piece of loose hose before following the first bit that was still connected to the engine. As he followed it, the brunet noticed how the hose went up into the engine.

"I can't get to it," James said, and that's when Kendall appeared on the other side of the engine, James being able to see him through the small gaps.

"That's because you're on the wrong side of the engine," Kendall said, and James could see the smile that was growing on his face.

With that, James wheeled himself free from under the car, and pushed himself up, heading towards the engine, where Kendall handed him a rag to wipe his hands on.

"Right, so using this spanner, I need you to loosen the bolt that is keeping the fuel line connected," Kendall said, handing James the tool he needed to use. "So, it's that bolt right there," Kendall said, causing James to nod as he got to work.

With the bolt loosened, James was able to pull the old fuel line completely clean of the car, a grin growing on his face before Kendall grabbed the new one and a few new bolts.

"So, basically, I need you to reverse the whole process that you just did. But this time, I need you to secure the fuel line to the filter and the tank with these bolts. Got it?"

"Got it" James replied, the brunet wiping the small bit of sweat that had gathered on his forehead before he got to work. The process was pretty simple, with James just having to thread the pipe through the bolt as he got close to the filter or fuel tank before screwing it into place.

By the time he was done, James had some black dust on his face from where it had fallen off of the car, but the job was complete.

"Time to test it out," Kendall said, throwing James the keys, causing a small smile to grow on his face as he walked over to the driver's side, and placed the key into the ignition. Twisting it, the Audi's engine revved to life, causing a massive grin to grow on James' face. "Nice going. You'll be a mechanic in no time" Kendall said, causing James to let out a little chuckle.

"I think I've had enough of repair work for the time being." The brunet replied, causing Kendall out a little chuckle. "But now that's done, let's head to the station" James continued, causing Kendall to nod, the blond's heart rate increasing at the prospect.

Trying to calm himself down, Kendall helped tidy away the tools and bits they'd worked with, and before long, he was sat in the passenger seat of the Audi, watching the traffic pass as James drove the two of them to the station.

All Kendall could think about the whole journey was what the Crime Boss said, about how they had people everywhere, and that caused anxiety to grow in his chest at the prospect of walking through the precinct.

Letting out a small sigh, he felt James' hand land on his lap, and when he looked over at the brunet, James was giving him a reassuring look, one that immediately made Kendall feel slightly safer.

* * *

As everyone gathered in Gustavo's office, Kendall couldn't help but eye the Commissioner, the blond curious about the man that had so quickly inserted himself into the case.

"So, the Crime Boss rang you last night, correct?" The Commissioner asked, causing Kendall to nod, the blond trying his best not to roll his eyes considering that was the first thing James had said to them, apart from the fact that they need to meet. "Any idea why?"

"To tell me that they wanted to give me a task" Kendall replied, glancing over at James, who nodded back at him to provide him with some support. "All I know is that they said they'd ring this burner phone when the time comes, and I'd have to answer it and do as I was asked, no questions asked"

"And you don't know what the task is?" Gustavo asked, causing Kendall to shake his head.

"I tried asking, but they said it wasn't part of the deal. As I said, all I know is that the burner phone will ring, and I'll have to do what they ask"

"And was there any clue, any indication of who they might be?" Griffin asked, causing Kendall to shake his head once again.

"No, I don't think so. I mean, their voice was all robotic and modulated so I'm guessing they used something to disguise themselves. I know that they were watching me, but I couldn't see anyone"

"Maybe we can use street camera footage to find something" Camille spoke up, causing everyone to glance over at her. "If the Crime Boss was in the area at the time of the phone call, then they'd have to leave at some point. We can check street cameras to look at all the traffic passing through that area at that time, and see if we can see that black Escalade again" She continued, glancing at Gustavo who nodded.

"That's a bit of a long shot" Griffin spoke up, clearly disagreeing with the plan. "The amount of traffic that passes through this city makes that a pretty pointless endeavour. You're never going to be able to find anything" The Commissioner continued, causing Kendall to glance over at James, who was rolling his eyes.

"Do you have any suggestions about what can be done?" James asked, and Kendall could hear the small bit of venom located in his tone.

"What I'm curious about is why the Crime Boss chose to ring your phone, yet has said that they'll contact you on a burner phone when the time comes. Why not either ring your phone again, or ring the burner phone in the first place to make a point" Griffin stated, causing everyone to go silent for a brief second as they considered it.

"Maybe because that makes them more difficult to track. By ringing one phone once, there is only one call log for you to try and trace, so it makes it more difficult" Camille said, causing them all to nod.

"And it only strengthens the Crime Boss power. By telling Kendall that a burner phone has been placed in his apartment, as well as watching him get it, it proves that they're still in the position of power" James added, causing them all to nod once again, as Gustavo turned to Camille.

"Will you be able to trace the call made to Mr Knight's phone?" the chief asked, causing Camille to let out a sigh.

"I can try, but it's going to be difficult. I can't imagine the Crime Boss would have made a call like that knowing it can be traced easily, but I'll give it a shot. I'll need access to phone records from Kendall's provider"

"I'll get them for you" Griffin interrupted, causing Camille to glance over at him briefly. "And I'll need the time of the phone call, and your number Kendall"

"You'll have them" Kendall replied, causing Camille to nod.

"What about the burner phone? Would you be able to put a tracker on that for when the phone call comes in?" Gustavo asked, causing Camille to let out another sigh.

"Again, I can try. I'll put a bug on it, so as soon as it rings, we'll be able to overhear the conversation, and that'll provide us with the number ringing the phone, so it's a start" She said, causing Gustavo to mummer in agreement.

"We still need to come up with a plan of action for when the phone call comes through" Griffin spoke up, causing James to let out a sigh, as the brunet rubbed his forehead.

"That's going to be difficult considering that we don't know what Kendall's going to be asked. I can stay with Kendall at all times, but apart from that, there's very little we can do in terms of preparation. We can increase patrols and stuff like that, but it might not actually do any good"

"I don't think you should stay with Mr Knight the entire time. If anything, I think this is the time he needs to be alone the most" Griffin said, causing James to raise an eyebrow, the brunet ready to jump into action when Griffin spoke up again. "If Mr Knight has someone with him constantly, it may blow this whole thing wide open. We need it to look like nothing has changed, and Mr Knight is still going about his daily business until the phone call comes in"

"I hate to say this, but I agree" Gustavo spoke up, causing James to glance over at him, his eyebrow still raised. "This is the closest we've come to the Crime Boss in years, and we don't need to be ruining our chance. We need to be prepared yes, but we also need to be careful with this opportunity, making sure not to ruin it"

"But the Crime Boss may have already seen the two of us together, so surely that wouldn't matter" James spoke up, causing Gustavo to shake his head.

"If the Crime Boss has seen you, then they've seen you on a normal day to day basis, where you don't spend every moment together. If you started doing that now, it looks suspicious"

"They're right," Kendall said, and when James looked over at him, he could see how difficult it was for the blond to say, fear very present in his eyes. "As much as I don't like it, they're right. I need to look like I'm ready to act at any moment, otherwise, this won't happen" the blond continued, causing James to let out a sigh as he ran his hands through his hair.

"Ok, but I'm going to be on alert constantly. If something looks like it's remotely wrong, I'm going to Kendall"

"Whatever makes you feel better," Griffin said, causing James to roll his eyes. "All we can do now is wait for the phone call. Mr Knight, work with Officer Roberts and give her the details she'll need to set up the traces, but apart from that, I suggest we all prepare ourselves for what is to come. We need to be ready at any moment. Dismissed" Griffin finished, causing everyone to nod as they all filed out of Gustavo's office.

As they did so, James wrapped his arm across Kendall's shoulders, the brunet now feeling more uneasy about this whole thing.

Something deep down was telling him that this wasn't going to end well.

* * *

 **So there we have it! Kames are in a good place, with the two of them being grateful of the time they spent together, the Audi is fixed with James having done the work, and very little has come of their meeting with the police since they don't have a lot to go on. They've also advised James to try and stay away from Kendall to make sure the plan works, but what is this going to mean?**

 **I want to say a massive thank you to Winterschild11, Guest and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter, and I'm so glad that you enjoyed it! You felt sorry for Kendall, which I don't blame you for, but luckily, they don't regret what happened between them! Unluckily however, nothing has really come of the news so it's become a waiting game!**

 **I hope you are all having a great week, and I will see you on Monday for the next chapter of Blizzard! But until then,**

 **TTFN 😃🚗**


	27. Chapter 27

**Hi Guys and welcome back to Rush and Response! I don't have a lot to say here, so let's crack on shall we?**

* * *

A week had passed since the Crime Boss had called Kendall, and it was safe to say that both he and the entire police force were on high alert, waiting for the second phone call to come in. Everyone's nerves were running high, with them all trying to come up for scenarios of what to do when the phone rung and speculation about what Kendall could be tasked with had seemed to run rampant with everyone being convinced that he was most definitely going to be asked to kill someone.

James felt like he hadn't slept the entire week, with him wanting to be constantly ready for the phone call to come in, and his distance from Kendall certainly didn't help that, the brunet wanting to be prepared to act in case anything happened to the blond. As well as that, Griffin was still breathing down their neck, demanding an update what felt like every other hour and that only seemed to make tensions higher, with them constantly reporting nothing back. Everyone was on edge, just waiting for the phone call to come in, and due to that, functionality seemed to go a miss.

Kendall couldn't focus on much else, the blond's mind occupied with 'what if's' and it was safe to say that the crew was starting to notice that something was up, especially with Kendall not being able to focus on repairing the cars he was supposed to. Still, the blond knew that he couldn't say anything to them, so he kept silent, hoping that none of them would question him in it.

As Wednesday evening dawned on them all, with Kendall finishing up at his waiting job, the blond made his way back to his car, letting out a sigh as he did so. It had been a particularly difficult shift for him, with his head not being with it at all, and it only got worse when he shut the car door. The blond closed his eyes for a brief second, leaning his head against the steering wheel in the hopes to gain a few moments of relief but as he did so, the burner phone began to ring, filling the car with the horrible muffled shrill of an unwanted ring tone.

Kendall's first response was to ignore it, hoping that it was nothing important, but when he realised that it wasn't his phone that was ringing, the blond jumped to action, pulling the burner phone out of his pocket before peeling some of the tape off of it. As he did that, the shrill of the ring tone got louder and Kendall finally accepted his fate, picking up the phone call and raising the object to his ear.

"Long day at work?" The Crime Boss' distorted voice said down the phone causing Kendall to glance around frantically, the blond looking out for someone watching him. He was greeted with the bustling streets of Hyperion Falls, and in some way that made him feel safer. At least if he was shot, someone was around to see him die. "Your time has finally come Kendall; I have that job for you"

"What do you need?" Kendall asked, and as he said that, his regular phone beeped.

 _'Camille says to keep them talking. She's trying to trace the call'_ A text from James read, causing Kendall to swallow a lump that had formed in his throat, his stomach fluttering with nerves.

"It's simple really. I need you to drive past the police station at 11:50 tonight and draw the police to the west of the town, down by the St Lewis Pier, where you'll keep them distracted until you receive another phone call saying that you can lose them" the distorted voice replied, causing Kendall to raise an eyebrow, not that anyone could see.

"Wait, is that it?" Kendall asked, causing a chuckle to come down the other side of the phone.

"Why, you are an inquisitive one aren't you, especially when I told you not to ask any questions," The Crime Boss said, causing Kendall to swallow another lump. "But I'm feeling generous, so I'll answer this one for you. That's it. Just keep the police distracted until I call you, and make sure you don't go past Newcroft street until then and your debt to me will be cleared. It's easy right?"

"A little too easy" Kendall murmured back, causing the Crime Boss to let out another chuckle, this one seemingly darker than the last.

"So, just remember, 11:50 tonight, I need you by the police station. I'll know if you're there, so I expect you to show and perform the task exactly as I've instructed. Then your debt will be cleared"

Just as soon as the phone call began, it ended causing Kendall to let out yet another sigh as he laid his head back down onto the steering wheel, reflecting on what he'd been asked. At least he hadn't been told to murder someone, the blond knew that he wouldn't be able to stomach something like that, but drawing the police away.

The Crime Boss must have something big planned if that's needed, and Kendall was sceptical to find out what it would be. Letting out one final sigh, Kendall started the mustang's engine and began driving, the blond having no clear destination in mind. At the moment, Kendall just wanted to enjoy the serenity of the city going about its usual business as he knew that later tonight, that serenity was going to be disrupted once again, and he'd have a part in causing it.

* * *

"Did you get it?" Griffin asked, now hovering over both James' and Camille's shoulders as they crowded around her computer. As soon as the phone call began, Camille started a trace, trying to locate where it had come from and both her and James watched as the computer tried to track the Crime Boss location. When the phone call ended, however, the program stopped, causing them both to let out a sigh.

"No, we got nothing" Camille replied, glancing up at Griffin who was currently sporting a scowl. "The phone call was binged off of cell towers from all over the world. England, China, even some in South Africa and Australia. The Crime Boss knew exactly what they were doing."

"And what about the first phone call to Kendall's phone?" Griffin asked, causing Camille to let out another sigh, clicking over to another tab on her computer.

"Same results with that one, but it was picked off of different locations. This one had Spain, Mongolia, Indonesia and a few other places around the world. As I said, they know exactly what they are doing."

"So, it's a bust," Griffin said, causing James to shake his head.

"Not necessarily. Now that we know what the Crime Boss wants from Kendall, we can prepare for it. If he's being asked to draw the police to the west of the city, then we know that they must be planning something in the east. We can come up with some sort of plan to make sure that we have access to surveillance in that area so we can keep on eye on what's going on, and be ready in case anything happens."

"I don't think so detective" Gustavo spoke up, causing them all to turn to him with their eyebrows raise. "Tell Kendall to meet us at this location in an hour. If he comes to the station now, it's going to look suspicious, but we need to discuss what we've just heard" the police chief continued, handing James a small slip of paper before walking off once again, this time Griffin following him.

"What do you think he meant by that?" Camille asked, causing James to shrug as he loaded up his text's to Kendall, and began to type out the instructions to the blond.

"I'm not sure, but whatever he means, I'm sure it's not good. You know what Gustavo's like when it comes to my plans" James replied, causing Camille to let out a little chuckle.

"That is true, he is always against you." She stated, causing a small smile to grow on James' face. "But you know I'm always with you, right? You've made more headway on this case than any of the previous detectives, so I'm inclined to keep supporting you"

"Thanks, Camille, that means a lot" James replied, causing the brunet girl to let out a little shrug as she flashed him a small smile.

"Don't mention it, you deserve it James, and hopefully after tonight, we'll both deserve a promotion for cracking this case right open. I have to admit; Detective Roberts has a nicer ring to it then Officer Roberts does."

"That would make me Sergeant Diamond" James replied, causing Camille to let out a little chuckle as James frowned.

"I'm not sure how I feel about that. Detective Diamond also had a nice ring to it"

"You could always get people to call you 'Sarg'" Camille replied, causing James to frown even more.

"That's worse," James said, Camille chuckling a little bit more. "But before we get ahead of ourselves, do you have a clue where Gustavo wants us to meet him?" James asked, handing the note to Camille who studied it for a brief second before she plugged the address into her computer.

"It looks like it's a coffee shop on the outskirts of the city. From the pictures, it looks pretty unknown" Camille replied as James leaned over her shoulder to study it with her.

"At least that means there's less of a risk of someone listening in to what we have to say" the brunet stated, causing Camille to nod as she flicked through a few more pictures.

"Maybe we should head over there now. I mean, it's going to look suspicious if all of us arrive at one"

"Good point" James replied, grabbing his jacket from her desk. "That way, we'll be able to survey the area and see if there is anywhere someone could be watching us from."

"Plus, the reviews say the coffee is good, and I could really do with one of them right now" Camille added, causing a small smile to grow on his face as the two of them made their way to the lift.

Despite Camille's efforts to make him feel better, it was safe to say that James was freaking out internally. Now that they knew the plan, it was making this whole thing and James was unsure as to how they were going to cope with that. Gustavo's statement certainly didn't help, so James was curious as to what the police chief was going to suggest, and he knew that Griffin was going to have a few ideas of his own. James let out a sigh at the thought.

The only thing that mattered to him was that Kendall stayed safe, and James knew that he would do anything to ensure that happened.

* * *

Kendall was the last to arrive at the coffee shop, with him worried about someone following him to the location. He'd purposefully taken a convoluted way to get there, hoping to lose someone if they were trying to follow him, and as well as that, he found himself parking the blue mustang at least a block away to make him more difficult to track. As he walked in, he surveyed the place, keeping an eye out both for James and the police as well as anyone that looked suspicious, but when he saw neither of them, he became slightly confused.

Making his way further into the coffee shop, the blond discovered a little outcropping with very limited surveillance and that's where everyone was location, with them being just as paranoid about being watched. They were all deep in a discussion by the time Kendall sat down at the table, the blond taking his place next to James who flashing him a small smile as he did so.

"Now that we're all here, we can begin," Gustavo said, causing everyone to glance over at him. "It's not going to happen, end of story. It's too risky and whatever the Crime Boss has planned, we should be prepared for. I suggest that since we know something is going to happen, we send all of the units to the east side of town to patrol and we stop all of the Dodge challengers that even enter the area. That way we can stop anything before it even happens and we can ensure that no one else is murdered"

"We don't even know if the Crime Boss is going to have someone killed" James spoke up, causing everyone to look over at him, Gustavo raising his eyebrow.

"Don't be ridiculous Detective. If they're asking Kendall to draw all of the police away from the area, then they must plan to do something big, like murder someone else" Gustavo spoke up, causing James to let out a sigh.

"I know, and while I do agree with you that something big is going to happen, we can't just assume that someone is going to be murdered. I mean, the other murders have been committed without the distraction of the police, so why would this one be any different?"

"Maybe the Crime Boss knows that we're investigating them" Camille spoke up, causing everyone to glance over at her. "I mean, the police have been investigating all of the murders, so maybe the Crime Boss is worried that we're getting close to finding something and is trying to cover their tracks" she continued, causing Kendall to reach over and grab James' hand, squeezing it.

James knew exactly what Kendall was trying to say to him, about the mole in the police force, but James knew that it wasn't the best idea to bring that up. The fewer people who knew about the mole, the more likely they were to slip up at one point. In reassurance, James squeezed Kendall's hand back while discreetly nodding at the blond, causing Kendall to calm down slightly, knowing that James was working on something.

"Whatever the case is, we don't know who the victim is, so we have no way of preparing for it. It would be best if we followed my plan, and stopped the whole thing for happening entirely" Gustavo said, causing James to shake his head rather obviously.

"But that would alert the Crime Boss to Kendall's involvement with the police. If suddenly we're patrolling the east side of the city after Kendall's been asked to keep the police away, the Crime Boss is going to know that Kendall told someone"

"I agree with Detective Diamond," Griffin spoke up, causing everyone to look over at him in shock. "This investigation hasn't had a proper lead in ages and this is the first chance we've got at actually making a difference" the commissioner continued, causing James to roll his eyes at the insult. "We go forward with what the Crime Boss has asked, but we need to make sure that precautions are in place."

"I can place an algorithm in the street cameras that will keep an eye out for Dodge Challengers. With that in place, we'll keep able to track all of the ones entering the east of the city." Camille began, but Gustavo interrupted.

"I think we're all forgetting that the east of the City is still a big area." He began, everyone glancing over at him. "If not as if we can track every Dodge Challenger in that part of the city."

"Actually, the street cameras will be able to do just that" Camille replied, causing Gustavo to roll his eyes.

"And what about the fact that if we do as the Crime Boss asks, then the police force will be following Kendall and unable to respond if anything happens?" Gustavo replied, causing James to roll his eyes at the chief's sarcasm.

"A few officers and I can patrol the area using unmarked cars. That way, it will look like Kendall has the bulk of the force on him, but a few of us will be stationed around ready to act if anything happens." James spoke up, Gustavo still looking sceptical about the whole thing. "As much as I hate to agree with the commissioner, this is one of our only leads, and if we don't act on it, then we've lost a big opportunity to catch the murderer and gain a clue as to who the Crime Boss is. We need to go through with it" James added, causing Gustavo to let out a sigh, shaking his head as he did so.

"Fine Detective, we'll follow your lead on this one as well, but I want to stress once again that if anything goes wrong, it's your job on the line. As soon as we spot a suspicious Challenger, it's your responsibility to get to it and deal with it. If anything happens to the victim, then you will face very real consequences" Gustavo reiterated causing James to nod, Kendall squeezing his hand once again to now offer James some support. "But if we do this, we're going to need a real plan to follow. I want to know the details. Locations of where these officers will be, and what you're doing to do if something happens" Gustavo added, causing them all to nod as they got to work, coming with a strategy and a plan of action.

They all seemed to work on it for hours, and throughout it, James noticed that Kendall was quiet. The brunet tried to prompt the blond's involvement a few times, but when Kendall only offered a limit response, James knew that something was up. With the plan decided, everyone split up, getting ready for the event to go down, but James stayed behind, keeping Kendall with him as he did so.

Once everyone was gone, James spoke up. "Are you alright? You were very quiet throughout that whole thing" James said, causing Kendall to nod as he let out a little sigh.

"Yeah, I'm alright, just a little nervous, that's all. I mean, if this goes wrong, then you're going to face consequences James, and that would all be because of me. Plus, if there is a mole in the police force and they catch wind of this, the Crime Boss is going to know exactly what we're up to, and I'm already worried that they know I'm involved with the police" Kendall began to ramble, causing James to pull him into a hug.

"Hey, it's going to be ok, you know I'm here for you right?" James said, causing Kendall to nod. "And you're going to have a radio with you, so if anything happens, you can report it in. I'm going to make sure that you're safe ok" James continued, causing a small smile to grow on the blond's face.

"Thank you James" Kendall replied, causing James to place a kiss into Kendall's hair.

"It's going to be alright Kendall. Whatever happens, I promise that it's going to be alright" James said, but this time, the brunet was unsure of whether James was trying to convince Kendall or himself.

* * *

"Can someone walk me through the plan once more" Kendall spoke into the police radio as he drove towards the police station in his Mustang, the time slowly climbing towards 11:50 pm.

"You're going to drive past the police station with some speed and the junior officers are going to start chasing you. To minimize who knows about this, as far as they're aware, you're going to be just another street racer, so this is going to be a real police chase. While you're doing that, James and five uncover officers are going to be patrolling the east of the city, while I survey the street cameras for Dodge Challengers and as soon as I spot one that looks suspicious, I'm going to alert everyone to its location, including the officers behind you. Once we get confirmation that they're the suspect, all units are going to be diverted to intercept it, and hopefully, we'll be able to get to them before they do anything. We'll be in contact with you constantly, so you don't need to worry Kendall. Just stick to the plan, and it should all go like we want it too" Camille said into his ear, causing Kendall to nod as it took it all in.

"Thanks, Camille," Kendall said into the radio, a small smile growing on his face. "Now, it's showtime" Kendall continued, the blond revving his engine loudly as he approached the police station.

As his car's clock switched over to 11:50 pm, Kendall went racing past the police station, letting out a deep breath as he did so.

 _'Just focus on the plan, and everything will be ok'_ Kendall thought to himself as the flashing blue and red lights filled his rearview mirror.

Still, that thought didn't get rid of the heavy feeling in his stomach.

* * *

 **So there we have it! Kendall has been asked to draw the police away from the east side of the city, and everyone has come up with a plan to make sure the Crime Boss doesn't commit whatever act they've got planned. Still, Kendall's got a bad feeling about the whole thing!**

 **I want to say a massive thank you to Winterschild11, Guest, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter and I'm so glad that you enjoyed it! You guys really don't trust Griffin, with some speculation about him being the Crime Boss going around and you're all worried about what Kendall is going to be asked, so I'm curious to see what you think about that in this chapter!**

 **I hope you guys are having a great week, and I will see you on Monday for the next chapter of Blizzard! But until then,**

 **TTFN 😃🚗**


	28. Chapter 28

**Hi Guys and welcome back to the totally not seven weeks late chapter of Rush and Response! So, I know that this chapter is coming a little later than expected, but the basic gist of things is that I moved out of my uni house back home for about a month, and while at home, I got a terrible case of writers block (and became slightly addicted to Star Wars the Old Republic), so didn't write anything new.**

 **I'm moving back to uni on the 1st September, so I hate to say it, but don't expect a chapter of Blizzard on Monday as I'll just have moved in and therefore have nothing to upload! Anyway, hopefully when I get back down to uni, my writer's block will clear, so I'll be able to get back onto writing like usual! But anyway, I'm rambling now, so let's crack on!**

 **Also, I apologise if this chapter is a little crap, as it's what five different attempts of breaking my writer's block produced! Hopefully, though, it should be ok, and almost legible!**

* * *

With the police now on his tail, Kendall's first instinct was to head west, taking the patrol cars following him as far as possible from the east of the city so that it looked like he was following the Crime Boss' plan. What the blond was actually doing, however, was trying to reduce the risk of James and the other five undercover officers being discovered, as it would look like he was doing what he was told.

The fact that the car behind him didn't know this, however, and were just assuming that he was another street racer, was putting Kendall on edge slightly as he wasn't sure how they would respond to the order of cancelling pursuit when the Crime Boss struck. It was plausible that one of the officers behind him would try to be the hero and continue pursuit instead of following the direct order, but Kendall was hoping that wouldn't happen.

As the blond swerved out of the way of a bus, he let out a sigh, using his free hand to rub some gathering sweat off of his forehead. If the blond was being honest with himself, it wasn't the pursuing patrol cars that he was worried about, it was the heavy feeling he'd gotten in his stomach since this whole thing had started. The blond couldn't pinpoint what it was, but something felt off to him, like something bad was going to happen and despite how much Kendall tried to convince himself that he'd be ok, the feeling didn't flee, instead sitting as a constant reminder of the precarious position both he and James were in.

Glancing into his rearview mirror once again, Kendall saw how one of the patrol cars was planning to ram him, causing the blond to quickly dodge out of the way of it, hoping that the authentic police chase would take his mind off of the trepidation of the mission, but instead, it only made him worry further. If Kendall didn't do his part, then the whole plan would fall through, and that thought alone causing more sweat to gather on the blond's brow.

With the pressure of the success of the plan looming over him, Kendall put his foot down, the Mustang's engine roaring as he led the patrol cars further and further west.

At least that way, no one could say that Kendall didn't uphold his end of the deal, and that went for both the police and the Crime Boss.

* * *

"Anything on the cameras?" James asked, causing Camille to let out a sigh which radiated through the car.

"Nothing that looks suspicious, but there are plenty of challengers about" Camille replied before the car was filled with the sound of typing. "I've sent the locations of a few of them over so you can have a drive past and see if you recognise a driver if you want" she continued, causing James to start the car's engine as he pulled off of the side of the road. "I've done the same to the other five, so hopefully we can start reducing the number of Challengers we have to keep track of"

"Thanks, Camille" James replied, the brunet now heading towards the first challenger in close proximity. Thankfully, he wasn't in the Audi so if it was WayneWayne, then he shouldn't, hopefully, notice the brunet until it was too late.

"How are you holding up with this whole thing?" Camille's voice radiated through the car, causing James to let out a shallow sigh.

"To be honest, I'm anxious about this whole thing. It's a real chance for us to finally bring this case to a close and capture both the person responsible for the murders and the Crime Boss, but I also know that if we mess this up, it's pretty much game over" James replied, causing Camille to let out a hum of agreement.

"I know what you mean, there's a lot of pressure on all of us for this to go right, but I believe that we can pull this off. I mean, the plans pretty solid so hopefully this is all going to work out ok"

"I needed that optimism" James responded, causing Camille to let out a little chuckle. "But seriously, I just want to say thank you for all of this. You've been instrumental in helping me in this case, and there's no doubt that I would have been able to do this without you. You've been, by far, the best partner I've had or will ever have, and I just wanted to thank you for that" James finished, causing the car to go silent for a brief second, the only sound being the engine as James raced down the streets. The brunet ran his hands through his head as he focused on driving, with him now being worried that he'd taken it too far with Camille, and her lack of response for those few seconds only furthered his panic.

"Thank you, James, that really means a lot to me" Camille spoke up, her voice helping calm James down massively. "And the same goes for you as well. You're the first person to take me seriously in this police force, so thank you for that. You've shown me that no everyone here is a jackass" she continued, causing James to let out a soft chuckle as a small smile grew on his face.

"Well, don't worry about working with any of them after this, as I'm requesting that we become partners full-time" James added, causing Camille to let out a little huff of laughter.

"As long as I'm not stuck in the office all the time, that sounds perfect"

"It's a deal partner" James replied, a small smile setting on this face. That lasted about ten seconds before he heard beeping coming down the radio.

"I've got something! One second, I'm patching everyone into this frequency" Camille said, before a bunch of static sounded down the radio for a brief while, ending with Kendall's voice ringing loud through the car.

"What's going on? Have you got anything?" Kendall asked, being answered by typing for a brief second.

"I think so. It's a black Challenger driving recklessly down Oliver street, so I suggest you start making your way there. Kendall, I'm going t…bzz bzz bzz bzz"

* * *

The radio went silent, causing Kendall to panic for a brief second as he grabbed the device and pushed the button down.

"Camille? Hello? Camille?" Kendall asked frantically down the radio, the blond quickly glancing at the rapidly growing force of police cars that were now following him. There must have been at least ten by this point, each of them as bold as the last. "James? Camille? Anyone? Please respond!" Kendall said into the radio once again, but he was only greeted with static, causing to blond to let out a sigh.

Completely preoccupied with the radio, Kendall didn't notice the closing police car until it rammed the back of the mustang, causing the blond to jolt forward. Trying his best not to let the ram shake him, Kendall threw the radio onto the seat next to him before putting his foot down further, the mustang's engine revving as Kendall started to pull away from the pack of police cars.

"Focus Kendal focus. Camille said Oliver street, so I'll start to make my way there. Besides, you must be able to reach someone on your mobile" Kendall began talking to himself, the blond now taking the next left turn so that he could start heading east before reaching for his mobile. The blond didn't even need to open his phone to see that he didn't have any signal, but in his current predicament, he didn't have time to worry about why, instead having to focus on getting to Oliver Street, something that the following police weren't making easy.

What hadn't helped either was that Kendall noticed some of them split off from the main group, which Kendall assumed meant that they'd try to cut him off somewhere, or even worse, t-bone him at a junction. Letting out a deep breath, Kendall knew that his priority would have to be to lose the police, but that task was looking more and more challenging by the second. The blond pushed the accelerator pedal to the floor, the Mustang's engine revving once again as Kendall watched the speedometer climb.

60,

70,

80,

90,

It climbed as the distance between him and the patrols cars grew but Kendall knew that it wasn't going to be as easy as just speeding away from them. With the blond loading up the map on his dashboard, Kendall quickly inputted Oliver street so that the car could guide him to it once he'd lost the police and with that done, Kendall began to take a series of left and right turns, the blond trying his best to navigate the city in the most confusing way possible in the hopes that the police wouldn't be able to keep up with him.

One by one, patrol cars began to drop off, but there seemed to be a couple in particular that stuck on his tail, causing the blond to question whether they had a personal vendetta again him. Whatever the case, Kendall tried his best not to get distracted, instead focusing on the tight corners he was taking as well as the number of cars following him.

The cars that had split up were nowhere in sight, but Kendall knew not to take that as a good thing, the blond worrying that they'd set up a roadblock somewhere to cut him off. The blond shook his head, trying his best to push those thoughts out of his mind as he tried to focus on the moment. Only two patrols cars still tailed him, so all he needed to do was lose those two and he'd be alright.

Those officers wouldn't have access to the street cameras as they'd believe that they were still turned off and if their radios weren't working, like Kendall's, then they wouldn't be able to update the others of his position.

With that thought, Kendall pushed the accelerator even further down, the blond praying on the fact that this whole situation would work in his favour.

* * *

"Camille, what's going on? We've lost Kendall" James asked, the brunet putting his foot down as he headed towards Oliver's street.

"I don't know" Camille replied before James heard a groan come from the other side of the mic. "Someone's hacking into the system, and is trying to cut off my connection to the cameras! I'm going blind James, but you need to get to Oliver Street now!"

Just as she finished, the radio cut out, with James being faced with the sound of static, causing him to slam his fists down onto the steering wheel in frustration. Trying his best not to let it get the best of him, James put his foot down as he headed towards Oliver street. The only reason someone would try to cut them all off from each other and hack into the cameras was because they were planning something, and James would be damned if he was going to let that happen.

With his car in motion, James checked his phone, hoping that he'd be able to get into contact with someone on that, but similarly to Kendall, it had no service, causing James to let out a sigh, the brunet not ignoring the fact that this was too convenient. Kendall was right, someone in the police force must have known about this for everything to go wrong at once. There would be no reason for the Crime Boss to suspect any type of plan unless they were informed about it, and that was the way it was looking.

James shook his head, pushing the thoughts to the back of his mind.

The mole was the least of his concerns at the moment, with James focusing on getting to Oliver Street. If he could beat the murder there and capture them, then they'd have all the information they'd need, as they'd be able to uncover the identity of both the mole and the Crime Boss. Suddenly, James' frustration was gone, replaced with determination with the brunet knowing what he had to do, and he could only hope that nothing would get in his way.

Pushing the accelerator down further, but his burst of speed only lasted a few seconds at most before he had to slam his brake on, with his frustration growing once again over the cause. The intersection ahead was blocked, with every light showing green. It seemed whoever was in the camera system also had control of the traffic lights, and that was going to make James' job a whole lot more difficult.

Checking his map for an alternative route, James pushed the gear stick into reverse, before revving the car's engine as it went speeding backwards. Nothing was going to stop him from getting to that crime scene, least of all a bit of traffic. As James reached where he needed to be, he pushed the gear stick into first, before flooring it down an alleyway, the brunet now taking backstreets and short cuts to get where he needed to go.

As he drove, Oliver's street got closer and closer, and due to the lack of traffic lights, he was able to get to where he needed to be, but as he pulled onto Oliver street, his heart dropped in his chest.

He was too late.

As his car come to a stop, James couldn't help but stare at the sight in front of him, which was a toppled Ford Victoria on fire.

No one would have been able to survive this accident, and if only to rub salt into the wound, James could see the black Challenger on the other side of the wreckage, as if to taunt that James was too late, before it pulled away, leaving the brunet with the representation of his failure in front of him.

* * *

As Kendall pulled onto Oliver street, he couldn't help but let out a deep sigh, faced with the same sight that James was. They were too late, and as he pulled closer to the wreckage, he could see James stood on the other side of it, the brunet wearing a mortified look on his face.

Pulling to a stop, Kendall opened the driver's side door and began to get out of his car, but before he could even do that, he heard James' voice.

"Kendall, you need to go!" James shouted over the crackling of the flames. "The police are going to be here any minute and as soon as they see this, the deal is going to be off. You need to get out of here"

"I'm not going to leave you, James!" Kendall shouted back, causing James to shake his head. "We can try to deal with this together! Talk to them, and sort it out!"

"We don't have time to argue Kendall! You need to leave now before they arrest you and your crew! You need to go warn them!" James shouted once again before they both heard the sound of approaching sirens. "Now Kendall!" James shouted for one final time, causing Kendall to let out a sigh as he climbed back into his car.

As the blond put his mustang into reverse, he saw the flood of blue and red lights pull onto Oliver Street, causing him to let out one final sigh.

"Good luck," Kendall said to himself, before making his way out of there, knowing that he was once again, on the run from the police.

* * *

As James watched the patrol cars approached, he glanced over his shoulder to see Kendall pulled off of the street. James knew that he could at least rest knowing that Kendall and the crew were ok, but he also knew that he was going to face the consequences of the smouldering ruin behind him. That thought dawned on him even more as he watched Gustavo and Griffin approach him.

"You have a lot to answer for Detective!" Gustavo began, his voice echoing off of the building in the streets. "I told you that this plan was too risky, but you insisted that you'd be able to prevent the murder from happening!"

"How was I supposed to know that our radios would fail? Or that Camille would lose control of the camera system?" James snapped back, but that only seemed to fuel Gustavo's rage.

"I've had enough of your excuses Detective! You need to realise the severity of the situation. At least two people are dead because of your lack of a contingency plan, and now both the murderer and the Crime Boss know that we are onto them! Because of you, we've lost the only advantage we had in his case!" Gustavo yelled, balling his hands into fists for a brief second before letting them go. "Hand in your badge and gun" Gustavo ordered, his voice now eerily calm, causing James to comply. "From this moment onwards, you are no longer part of the Hyperion Falls police department, and a formal investigation will be launched to discover what happened here. As well as that, the deal with Mr Knight will be revoked and a warrant will be placed for his and his crew's arrest. For all we know, he could have been working with the Crime Boss to ensure that we failed here today"

"Don't be ridiculous! Kendall wanted the Crime Boss brought to justice as much as the rest of us, and he had no reason to betray us!" James stated, the brunet raising his voice as he did so.

"I intend to find out whether that is true or not. Now, this is an active crime scene, and since you are no longer a detective, I suggest you make yourself scarce before I arrest you for obstruction and interfere" Gustavo finished, causing James to grit his teeth to prevent him from saying anything.

As the brunet walked away, he pulled his phone from his pocket, only to notice that he now had full service once again. The coincidence not being lost on him, James sent a message to Kendall warning him to Gustavo's plans before he ordered himself a taxi.

The ride back to his apartment was a woeful one, but it wasn't until James shut the door on his apartment that he let his emotions finally show, the brunet breaking into tears as he dropped onto his bed.

All of the work he'd put into catching this murder and Crime Boss was for nothing and to make it worse, he'd put someone he cared deeply for into a more precarious situation than he'd ever been in.

* * *

 **So there we have it! The murder was committed, despite their best effort to stop it, James has been fired from the HFPD and the deal with Kendall is off, putting him and his crew in danger! Once again, I want to apologise if this chapter was a little bit naff, as I know it was not my best work, but I hoped you enjoyed it anyway!**

 **This is long overdue, but I want to thank Guest, Winterschild11, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter, and I'm so glad you enjoyed it! You were all suspicious of something going wrong last chapter, and you were certainly onto something with it! You're also still wondering who the mole is, which I'm glad about as I want to keep that a surprise until the last minute hehe!**

 **Anyway, I hope you've all have a good seven weeks while I've been away, and I will see you all on Thursday for the next chapter of this, which I promise this time, will arrive! But until then,**

 **TTFN 😀🚗**


	29. Chapter 29

**Hi Guys and welcome back to Rush and Response! So, this chapter pretty much picks up where the last one left off, so let's crack on with it, shall we?**

* * *

As Kendall raced away from the scene, he couldn't help but focus on what was happening to James at that moment. Kendall knew that he was probably being reprimanded because of what had happened, but how severe was it going to be? Kendall couldn't see Griffin and Gustavo letting James of light, but he still hoped that they'd be understanding to the situation.

The blond was deep in thought as he raced through the streets, heading back to Stone's garage, but not so deep to ignore the phone ringing next to him. As soon as Kendall heard the shrill of his ring tone, he reached for his phone and answered it, not bothering to look at the caller ID as he assumed that it was James telling him about what happened.

"Hello," Kendall said into the phone, placing it on loud speaker as he raced through the streets.

"You did a wonderful job today Kendall, thank you for that" an all too familiar voice echoed through the car, causing shivers to shoot up Kendall's spine, as he felt like the temperature dropped about twenty degrees. "Although I have to admit, I didn't appreciate the six undercover cop cars that were patrolling the streets. Still, I got what I wanted in the end, and you did your job admirably" the voice continued, Kendall's eyes now focused entirely on the road as if he was scared to look anywhere else.

The fear that he was being watched came back in full force as if the other cars on the road were placed there to watch him. Trying his best to ignore the horrible feeling, Kendall focused back onto the conversation, his new concern being the fact that his worst fear had been concerned.

"How…how'd you know about the cop cars" Kendall managed to ask, causing a modulated laugh to come through the phone.

"You're not even going to bother to try and deny it?" The voice asked, a small chuckle following the statement. "And I told you, I have people everywhere. But that's not what's important here. What is important is the state of your debt to me" the voice stated, causing Kendall to swallow a lump that had formed in his throat.

"I thought you said that if I did this, my debt to you would be repaid" Kendall spoke up, his eyes still glued to the road as he drove, worried that that mere statement alone would cause him to be shot.

"That is true, but that was before I found out that you'd betrayed me. Now, I can't really let out get away with that now can I?" The crime boss asked, Kendall not bothering to answering it, as he knew it was a rhetorical question. "So, here's what I'm going to do. You're still indebted to me, but I feel like I should help you out of it a little quicker, so I'm going to double your usual payments. If you can't pay them in time...well, let's just say you don't want to find out what will happen. I don't play well with traitors" the voice said, Kendall's eyes widening at the thought.

Before Kendall had a chance to object, the phone cut off, leaving him alone in the car, worried about his future, both close and distant. Letting out a sigh, knowing that he'd never be able to pay that off every week, Kendall heard his phone chime once again. This time, the blond glanced down at it before opening it, and when he saw that it was a message from James, his heart began to race in his chest.

With one hand on the wheel, Kendall grabbed his phone and opened it, only to be greeted with confirmation of what James had said earlier. The deal with the police was off, and now he and his crew were in danger once again. Only this time, the police knew where they were based, and Kendall knew it was a safe bet to believe that they wouldn't waste any time reaching them.

With a renewed sense of determination, Kendall put his foot down, heading towards Stone's Garage. The issue with repaying the Crime Boss would have to wait, first, he had to warn his friends of the incoming danger they all faced.

* * *

As Kendall pulled around the corner to Stone's garage, a brief sense of relief came over him at the fact that no police cars were surrounding the place. Thankfully the garage door was up, so Kendall wasted no time pulling in and hopping out of his car.

"Where's everyone else?" Kendall asked, addressing his question to Carlos who was walking over to him.

"I think they're out back. Lucy's in her office and Logan and Dak are in the breakroom" Carlos replied, noticing how concerned Kendall looked as he broke into a sprint. "Why, what's wrong?"

"We need to get out of here now. Get anything important packed and ready to go. I'll warn the others" Kendall answered, but that only seemed to cause my questions.

"What do you mean we need to get out of here? Kendall, what's going on?" Carlos replied as Kendall disappeared down a corridor briefly before poking his head back around the door frame.

"I don't have time to explain right now, but trust me, we need to get out of here" Kendall replied, giving Carlos no chance to respond as he walked off once again. Not having the time to knock on Lucy's office door, Kendall simply kicked it as he walked towards the breakroom, and by the time he'd reached that door, Lucy was poking her head out of her office.

"What the hell was that about?" Lucy asked as Kendall opened the door to the breakroom.

"We need to get out of here now. Grab whatever you can, and head to a car, we need to leave" Kendall said, walking back toward the garage, where Carlos was currently packing tools into the boot of his Focus.

"What do you mean we need to get out of here?" Dak asked, following Kendall down the corridor while Lucy and Logan lingered by their respective doorframes.

"I think the statement is self-explanatory, we need to get out of here" Kendall replied, causing Lucy to raise an eyebrow at him.

"I'm so confused" she muttered, causing Carlos to let out a little chuckle.

"Imagine how I felt when he first said it" he replied, causing them all to let out a little chuckle at Kendall's behaviour.

"Guys, this is serious. We need to grab whatever we can, and we need to leave. We need to go somewhere where we can lay low for a few days, until we get this sorted out" Kendall stated, once again, only raising more questions.

"Kendall, seriously, what are you going on about? You're starting to worry me" Lucy said, causing Kendall to roll his eyes.

"Good, you should be worried" the blond exclaimed, before letting out a sigh, seeing genuine concern on Lucy's face. "Look, I know I sound crazy, but you need to trust me. The police are on their way, and this time, they're going to arrest us for good" Kendall explained, causing everyone else to glance over at Lucy as if to get approval. "Please, trust me" Kendall pleaded once more, and when Lucy nodded her head, Kendall let out a massive sigh of relief as everyone began to heed his warning.

Helping Carlos pack whatever tools they could into the back of the Focus, he noticed how Lucy and Logan disappeared into the office and breakroom respectively for a brief second before re-emerging, Lucy with cash and keys in hand whilst Logan had his laptop and equipment. Unlocking all of the cars, Lucy began to throw out the remaining keys to everyone, Dak gaining access to the Camaro, while Logan was given the keys of the Challenger.

Despite all of the chaos, Kendall felt the need to look at the challenger, and when blond noticed that theirs was white with a black stripe, Kendall felt a weight lift off of his shoulders, with the confirmation that it wasn't their car that was committing the murders. The relief only lasted a brief second however as Kendall zoned back into the situation upon hearing the faint sound of police sirens in the distance.

"Kendall, you have a shit ton of explaining to do," Lucy said, unlocking the Golf GTI as she said so.

"I know, I know" Kendall replied, packing the last of the bits into the Focus while Carlos ran over to the garage door and slammed onto its controls causing all of the doors to open. As soon as that happened, all five of them witnessed the horde of police cars descending on the garage. "Shit, we're out of time. You need to get out of here now!" Kendall shouted, causing Dak, Carlos and Logan to quickly hop into their respective cars.

"What about you?" Lucy asked, her eyes flicking back to the police cars coming to a stop.

"I'll be right behind you!" Kendall shouted, causing her to nod as she hopped into the GTI, and rolled down her window.

"We'll meet you at Stephanie's" Lucy shouted out of the window before speeding way, Carlos, Dak and Logan quickly following on her tail.

Kendall watched as they all stayed in a straight line, following Lucy through the flurry of police cars that approached, but when only a couple began to go after them, Kendall couldn't help but feel like this was personal. Shaking the thought out of his head, Kendall was ready to sprint over to his mustang when a voice spoke up.

"I can't tell you how long I've been waiting for this moment," the voice said, causing Kendall to raise an eyebrow at it. It certainly wasn't familiar to him, but that only seemed to make it worse. Turning to see where the voice came from, Kendall was greeted with the sight of a tall, blonde-haired male surrounded by a surreal amount of officers all pointing weapons at him. "Detective Diamond is gonna be so pissed when he finds out that I was the one who arrested his criminal boy toy. Oh wait, he isn't a detective anymore"

"Who the fuck even are you?" Kendall asked, keeping his eye on the officer while slowly backing towards the mustang.

"I'm the guy that's going to bring you in" The officer replied, causing Kendall to roll his eyes. Seeing his opportunity, Kendall broke into a sprint, heading for cover from the weapons. "This one's mine!" The officer shouted as he broke into a sprint after Kendall, the blond having little time to think as he headed for the mustang.

Using his knowledge of the garage to his advantage, Kendall found himself pulling dolly's out of storage to try and trip the officer as well as moving storage carts into his way to try and delay his approach. All Kendall had to do was reach his mustang and he'd be set. That's when he shooting starting. One bullet went flying past his ear, and Kendall didn't have time to see where it went as he ducked into cover behind a metal trolley. Kendall heard the impact of another bullet hit the other side of the trolley and while the blond was grateful that it was sturdy enough to stop a bullet, he knew it wouldn't last.

Trying his best to lay low, and out of sight, Kendall continued to head towards the Mustang and just as he reached the door, he heard another shot fly close to him, but this time, it was accompanied by the sound of glass smashing. Glancing up, Kendall noticed how the passenger's side window had been shot in, causing anger to bubble in the blond as he climbed into the driver's side.

Still staying low, Kendall started the car and revved the engine loud as if to make a point before glancing into his rearview mirror only to see the officer was stood in front of the open garage door with his gun pointed directly at the car.

"I've got you now. Jett fucking Stetson has done it again!" The officer said, but Kendall wasn't quitting just yet. P

lacing the car into reverse, Kendall revved the engine once more, before slamming his foot onto the accelerator peddle. Jett barely had time to register it, and even less time to dive out of the way, but by the time Kendall was passing under the garage door, he noticed Jett on the floor beside the door, having just dived out of the way in time.

"Fuck you, Jett Stetson," Kendall said as he drove past, accompanied by spitting out of the window before quickly spinning the car 180 degrees. With one last rev of the engine, Kendall and the mustang shot off, the blond letting out a small sigh as he did so. He knew that he wasn't away from the police just yet, but at least this chase would be on his terms.

Watching as numerous cars began to assemble in his rearview mirror, Kendall couldn't help the small grin that grew on his face.

* * *

Kendall was quick in getting up the gears, the mustang's engine revving every time he did so as if to prove to the officers that his car was faster and more powerful than his. About 15 cars chased him, a similar number to the chase earlier in the day, so Kendall knew he was going to be able to handle this. With the combined determination of reaching safety, making sure the crew was ok, and checking on James, considering what Jett had said, Kendall knew he could get out of this. It just required some of the best driving he'd ever done. The first thing Kendall did was head straight onto the main roads, knowing that was the perfect place to make the chase difficult.

Kendall knew how to handle these busy streets, knew when to dodge out of the way, or whether he could push it a little further before he had to move, but the blond was positive that a lot of the police following him wouldn't have that much experience. They were planned and equipped for a raid of the garage, with Kendall taking note of the big police SUV's as well as the large armoured trucks, so it was going to be difficult to them to follow him through the crowded traffic.

Hell, some of the SUV's chasing him had already dropped out of view range, so he knew he was going to be dealing with the smaller, fast, patrol cars he'd come to love. What Kendall hadn't banked on, however, was the massive floodlight that suddenly seemed to beam onto the car, and the blond had to shield his eyes quickly as he swerved out the way of a car he didn't seem to notice.

As his senses came back into focus, Kendall heard it, the sound of helicopter's rotor whirring above him, and the blond knew that this had just become a whole lot more difficult. Kendall had never had to escape a helicopter before, so this whole experience was new to him. What he did know, however, was that when a helicopter was dispatched to follow you, you were a significant target for capture, and that couldn't help but inflate his ego a little bit.

Revving the engine once more, Kendall shot forward as he quickly began to plan how he was going to get out of this one. The blond knew that his priority would be to make the helicopter lose sight of him, as they'd be the one relaying the information back to the patrol cars. Once the helicopter was gone, he'd only need to focus on the patrol cars, and as Kendall had learnt, with a certain amount of skill, they were child's play. Checking on his map, Kendall noticed a multi-storey car park close and he knew that's where he needed to head, getting his car under cover as fast as he possibly could.

Once he'd done that, well, let's just say that he had some tricks up his sleeve. Swerving through the traffic on the busy street, Kendall was constantly checking in his rearview mirror to see whether the patrol cars were managing to keep up with him, and he couldn't help the smug look on his face when he noticed that they were getting stuck behind slow-moving vehicles, or self-caused car crashes when the police tried to overtake someone.

The helicopter was still his main concern, but as the multi-storey car park approached, he knew it wouldn't be for much longer. Swerving out of the way of a bus, Kendall quickly cut into the car park, noticing that it was packed with cars. The blond grinned with glee, knowing that it would only make his job easier, but now the count down began. With the distance of the patrol cars, Kendall knew he only had about a minute and a half if not less, to pull off his plan.

The blond raced up the ramps, heading for about the fourth floor, and when he finally found a space, away from the open side, he hopped out of his car and get straight to work. The blond picked his nail at the paintwork on the bonnet, and thankfully, a small section came up, causing the blond to let out a sigh of relief. Grabbing the small section, Kendall tugged on it, causing more of the paintwork to pull off.

A massive smile grew on the blond's face as he continued to pull more and more of the paintwork off, his once lightning blue mustang now turning into a plain black colour. The peelable paintwork had worked like a charm, completely changing the colour of the car at the moment he needed it most. As Kendall proceeded to the car of his car, he made sure to place all of the peeled paintwork into his boot, knowing that he couldn't leave any evidence.

Next was the licence plate, but that was a simple fix, with the blond unscrewing his current plate and quickly replacing it with another one, registered under a different name. Just as the blond was closing his foot, he heard it, the sound of the sirens approaching so he was quick to hop back into his car, and start the engine before grabbing the beany and pair of glasses he kept in his glove box.

The blond knew it wasn't much for a disguise, but it would at least cover him until Kendall knew this was going to be the difficult bit, getting out of the car park and back onto the main street, but Kendall knew he was going to be safest there, surrounded by hundreds of other drivers, and more importantly, a large number of black mustangs.

As quietly as he could, Kendall pulled out of the space and began to roll towards the ramp down a level. He needed to time this perfect, pulling down the ramp as they were pulling up to avoid detection, and as soon as he spotted the patrol car, he did just that.

Leaving the car out of gear, Kendall let it roll down the ramp as the police car climbed, and once they were out of sight, he was quick to place the car back into gear and continue to descend the garage. Looking at the entrance he came in through, Kendall noticed approaching sirens, causing him to quickly glance around for a second exit.

Thankfully spotting one, Kendall began his drive there, making sure not to do anything suspicious. This would only work if the police didn't suspect the new car and colour, and without any more peelable paint, this was his only chance. As casually as he could, Kendall drove towards the second exit and perfectly merged into the traffic on the conjoining road.

Still, he wasn't out of the clear.

The police were going to be suspicious of a mustang pulling out of the same garage that one had driven into. Kendall could only hope that he could blend into the traffic so that they didn't become suspicious of him. Following all the traffic laws, Kendall, painfully slowly, began to make his way towards the upcoming intersection, but when he checked his rearview mirror, he could see the sirens already approaching.

The blond took in a deep breath as he slouched in his seat slightly, waiting for the police cars to approach. Thankfully, the sheer amount of black cars surrounding him helped calm his nerves slightly, but there was only so much that could do. As the patrol cars closed in, Kendall got further and further down in his seat until the flashing blue and reds lights had engulfed his car.

"Fuck" Kendall muttered to himself, waiting for the rest of the patrol cars swarm around him, but it never came. When the lights turned green at the intersection, Kendall followed the cars in front as they all moved away, and with one final check in the rearview mirror, he noticed that the lights weren't following him.

Letting out a deep and heavy sigh, Kendall began his journey to Stephanie's but the fear of being caught hadn't left him yet.

* * *

 **So there we have it! The Crime Boss knew about the plan all along and has threatened Kendall because of his treachery, and to make matters worse, the police are after them all!**

 **I want to say a massive thank you to Guest, Winterschild11, RaimbowDiamond and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter, and I'm so glad you enjoyed it! You all seem curious as to who this mole is going to be, as they definitely screwed Kendall and James over big time, and you also seem convinced that this isn't going to stop Kames from investigating, especially with the help from Camille on the inside!**

 **As for uploads, I think I might stick for weekly ones for the time being, with this story coming out every Thursday. This story is practically planned out to the end, while I need to work on Blizzard and see where I want it to go! So, with that being said, I will see you all next Thursday for the next chapter of this! I hope you all have a great week, and until then**

 **TTFN 😀🚗**


	30. Chapter 30

**Hi Guys and welcome back to Rush and Response! A bit of a short chapter today, but this officially marks the beginning of the end, with only 5 chapters left! Anyway, let's crack on with this, shall we?**

* * *

Kendall's drive to Stephanie's was a long and solitary one. He'd stayed with legal speed limits to that he didn't draw attention to himself, and he also avoided using his phone so that he couldn't be tracked with it. However, that also meant that, for the entire journey, he had no idea whether Lucy and the rest of the crew had gotten there safely.

When Kendall pulled into the carpark at Stephanie's apartment, he let out a sigh of relief, seeing that everyone else was parked up. All of the cars had changed colour and license plates similar to Kendall's Mustang, but that didn't stop him from recognising them, mostly because everyone was hanging around their respective cars. Pulling into the closest free space to the front of the building, Kendall opened his door and hopped out of his car, making eye contact with Dak as he did so.

"Glad to see you're safe" Dak said to Kendall, causing him to let out a deep breath.

"Same for you guys. Have any trouble getting here?" Kendal replied, causing Dak to shake his head.

"Not really. We had a few patrol cars, but we were able to lose them pretty quickly. Once we'd changed the colours and the license plates, we had no issues" Dak stated, causing Kendall to let out a humourless chuckle as he leant back against the car door.

"Really? Fuck man, I had like 15 patrols cars, and even a helicopter following me" Kendall responded, causing Dak's eyes to widen, Kendall taking note of it. "Exactly! But, once I'd removed the paint, and swapped out the license plate, I didn't have any issues either. A few close encounters with cars driving past, but no issues" Kendall continued, taking his beanie and fake glasses off as he did so. "So, are we allowed to stay here for a bit or not?" Kendall asked, causing Dak to roll his eyes as he let out a humourless chuckle of his own.

"That's up for debate at the moment. It seems Stephanie isn't happy with Lucy just showing up like this, especially considering they broke up earlier this week" he said, causing Kendall to let out a sigh.

"Shit dude, I didn't even know"

"Neither did we. It turns out this was something Lucy wanted to keep to herself. Anyway, they're arguing with each other now, so it could go either way" Dak shrugged.

"Do we at least have somewhere we can go if Stephanie doesn't let us stay?" Kendall asked, causing Dak to shrug again.

"I don't know. Logan said it's best if we don't use our cards to pay for anything, so unless Lucy's willing to spend some of that cash, hotels are out of the question. Plus, we'd need to provide ID, and as soon as we did, the police would know where we are." Dak explained, causing Kendall to nod along with him. Just as Dak finished, the two guys saw Lucy approach them, causing Logan and Carlos to also make their way over.

Letting out a sigh, Lucy spoke up. "So Stephanie said we can stay for a few days. She's got a spare bedroom, so a couple of us can sleep on the bed and the rest of us can take the sofas." Lucy explained, causing everyone to let out a breath of relief at the news. "However, she also said that while she's not gonna rat us out to the police, if they come looking for us, we'll need to leave. She doesn't want any trouble"

"And how are the two of you?" Dak asked, causing Lucy's face to show a frown for a brief second before disappearing.

"Frosty" was all Lucy replied with before turning her attention to Kendall. "Now I suggest you get your ass upstairs as you have some explaining to do"

"I know I do, and I promise that I will explain everything, but I need to check on James" Kendall replied, causing Lucy to raise an eyebrow at him.

"James? I just assumed he'd been arrested and was the one to rat us out" Lucy stated blatantly, causing Kendall to let out a sigh.

 _'Close, but not quite'_ the blond thought to himself before responding. "No, he's at home, but I'm pretty sure he has no clue what's going on. I should get to him before the police realise he wasn't with us and go after him properly" Kendall half-lied.

While James was at home, it was safe to assume he knew exactly what he was happening.

"Alright" Lucy replied, letting out a sigh. It was clear to Kendall that she wanted answers, but James took precedence over that. "However, I want you back here tomorrow, with or without him." She continued, causing Kendall to nod as he hopped back into his car and started the engine.

Now that he knew the crew was safe, he could finally check on James, and see what the fuck Jett Stetson was on about. From what the fuckwit of a detective, Jett Stetson, had said, however, Kendall knew that it probably wasn't good news.

* * *

Kendall didn't even bother to park the Mustang properly as he pulled into the carpark under James' building, instead leaving the car practically abandoned by the lift before he jumped out of it. Locking his car was an afterthought, only considering it when the lift doors began to close and with the blond quickly pressing the button, he watched the car lights flash as the lift doors closed.

The blond was too preoccupied thinking about James that he hadn't even considered it, causing him to let out a sigh as he leant against the lift wall. The brunet had certainly done a number on him, that was for sure, but whatever the case, Kendall knew that he was too far gone to even consider backing out not. Whatever had happened with James, Kendall knew that he was going to stand by him completely, and make sure that the two of them saw this through to the end.

After all, Kendall did love the brunet.

The blond's eyes widened at the declaration his mind had made for him, suddenly standing up a little bit straighter.

Was that true?

Did Kendall love James?

The blond pushed the thought aside for the time being, one; because he knew what James was going through was more important for the time being, and two; because he didn't want to deal with that emotionally loaded statement at the moment. The last time the blond had said that to someone was right before Katie died. Kendall shook his head, trying to remove the thoughts once again.

As he said, he didn't want to deal with the emotional backlash that accompanied the phrase at this time, and thankfully the lift doors opened at just the right time for him to leave the small metal box and those thoughts in it.

Racing through the corridors, Kendall finally arrived at James' door, frantically banging on it until he heard some sort of response. "James, it's Kendall. Come on, open up!" the blond shouted through the door, accompanying the knocking and when he heard shuffling come from the other side of the door, he let out a breath he didn't know that he was holding. That was, of course, until the door opened in front of him, revealing a broken shell of a man.

"I'm so glad that you're ok. I was so worried" James mumbled as tears strolled down his face, causing Kendall to pull the brunet into a tight hug as he stepped into his apartment.

"What happened?" Kendall asked as James cradled his head into Kendall's head.

"I failed them Kendall" James muttered, the tears now flowing at a faster pace. "I failed them both after I promise that I wouldn't let anyone else get hurt." James cried, causing Kendall's mind to go blank for a brief second, wondering why James was so hurt over letting Gustavo and Griffin down. That's when it hit him, James was concerned about them, he was talking about how he'd failed his mother and brother, causing Kendall to let out a soft sigh.

"You haven't failed them, James, if anything, I bet they'd be proud of you"

"People died because of me Kendall, because I was stupid enough to think that I could come up with a plan that would stop the Crime Boss. They wouldn't be proud of me"

"They'd be proud of the person you've become James. They'd be proud of the determined, smart and compassionate person you are. They wouldn't be disappointed in you, and you certainly haven't failed them. This case isn't over yet, and you're going to get justice for all of those that have suffered because of the Crime Boss" Kendall insisted, causing James to sniffle into as he wiped the tears from under his eyes.

"What's the point, Kendall? It's clear that there is nothing I can do to stop the Crime Boss, they're too powerful. I mean, fuck, they managed to block our communications and hack into the camera system. Even Camille couldn't stop them" James stated, causing Kendall to raise an eyebrow at him.

"They hacked into the camera system, when did that happen?" Kendall asked, causing James to let out a sigh, pulling out of the hug as he dropped onto his sofa.

"After we lost contact with you. I was asking Camille about what happened when she told me that someone was hacking into the camera system. Shortly after that, I lost contact with her" James sighed, his head in his hands as he said so. Thinking over what James had said, Kendall sat himself down on the sofa next to the brunet.

"Something doesn't make sense" Kendall spoke up, James' eyebrow raising as Kendall spoke. "If we were all using the same frequency on the radio, then how come I lost contact with you before you lost contact with Camille. Surely, if someone blocked the frequency, it would stop all communications, not cut off one at a time" Kendall thought over what he'd said, something else popping into his brain as he did so. "Also, those police cars made no attempt to stop following me when the news came through that the Challenger was spotted"

"But it was supposed to look that way. It was supposed to look like the police were focusing on you, and not looking out for a murderer." James responded, but Kendall wasn't giving up yet.

"I got a phone call from the Crime Boss as I was pulling away from the scene. They knew about the six undercover cars"

"That's impossible," James said, shaking his head at the blond's words. "No one else in the precinct knew about our plan. It was only the five of us who met in the coffee shop" James continued, glancing over at Kendall who was staring at him, with his eyebrow raised. "No, you don't think it's…"

"Think about it, James. If only the five of us knew about the plan, then it must be one of them. One of them must have been the mole"

"Someone could have overheard our conversation" James reasoned, trying his best to justify the situation.

"But that doesn't explain how the Crime Boss knew what frequency to block on the radio. Besides, we were sat in a small outcropping far from everyone else. Surely we would have spotted someone if they were listening in" Kendall explained, causing James to let out a little sigh.

He knew that Kendall was right, he just didn't want to believe it.

"Then who? Who could it possibly be? Who could possibly have some kind of motive to betray us all, and feed information to the Crime Boss"

"Someone who's indebted to them like I am. Think about it, if someone owes the Crime Boss, and they're working in the police force, then they'd have no choice but to give them information, or help sabotage our plans."

"But who, Kendall? I'm having a hard time believing that one of us could tamper with evidence, and corrupt street camera footage" James stated, causing a small thought to pop into Kendall's head, one that he didn't like immediately.

"I think I know who it is," Kendall said, his voice filled with dejection, causing James to look over shaking his head, his thoughts matching Kendall's.

"No," James said outright, refusing to believe it.

"Think about it, James. They're the only one who could have done all those things that have happened, and also relayed information to the Crime Boss."

"But, no, I can't believe it" James replied, causing Kendall to let out a little sigh, placing his hand onto James' knee.

"I'm so sorry" was all Kendall said, causing tears to start strolling down James' face once again.

"That little bitch. I can't believe it, it can't be them," James said, wiping the tears from his eyes.

"Camille's the only person that could have pulled off everything that has happened. She knew what frequency on the radio we were using, so she'd also be able to jam it, she knew that the street cameras were vital for the operation, so she could have easily pretended someone was hacking into them. The rest of us don't have as much computer knowledge as her, so she knew we'd believe what she was saying, and it also matches that she'd be able to corrupt the older camera footage for the murders that weren't committed on maintenance days" Kendall explained, James shaking his head as the blond spoke.

"It can't have been her. This is all purely circumstantial" James said, still refusing to believe it.

"Camille also had my mobile number, and that would make sense as to why she could block my signal on that as well. Plus, she was the one who was supposed to relay the order to the other patrol cars, so if she was working with the Crime Boss, it makes sense that she didn't, causing them to follow me"

"But what if all of the radio frequencies were blocked, not just the one we were using. Then, it would make sense that she couldn't contact the patrol cars. I'm telling you Kendall, this is all circumstantial, and I'm sure if we just talked to her, then she'd be able to explain" James replied, causing Kendall to let out a sigh.

It was clear to him that James was having a hard time at the moment, and that this certainly would have been the icing on the cake, if it were true. Keeping that in mind, Kendall squeezed James leg.

"I'll tell you what, why don't we go to Logan and ask him to do some digging around. With his skills with computers, I'm sure he'd be able to find something to prove that Camille is either innocent or guilty. Besides, I think it's about time we told them what's been happening" Kendall suggested, causing James to glance over at him.

"Are you sure that's wise. I mean, you're now wanted by the police and that's because of me. They're not going to take that very well" James replied, causing Kendall to let out a sigh.

"No, you're probably right about that" Kendall concurred, giving James' leg another squeeze. "But we're not going to be able to do this alone. We've let your crew have a crack at it, so I think it's time we let mine have a go as well. They'll have different connections to the police, and might be able to find something that we couldn't before. Plus, if Camille is working for the Crime Boss, it would explain why we were making any progress as she'd be manipulating our evidence.

"Still, I don't know Kendall. I mean, I've been kicked off the police force, and they're launching a formal investigation into what happened. If I go snooping around now, it's not going to help my case"

"But if you don't, the Crime Boss is going to find a way to make sure you look guilty. At least this way, you can start to collect evidence to prove the contrary" Kendall reasoned, causing James to let out a sigh, knowing that once again, Kendall was right.

Saying nothing, James let out a deep breath as he pushed himself up from the sofa, turning back when he noticed Kendall wasn't doing the same thing.

"Come on, we best get started" James said, but it only took one look at James for Kendall to know that wasn't a good idea.

"We can start tomorrow. At the moment, you need to rest. If we're gonna do this right, then we're gonna have to do it with a clear head." Kendall replied, now pushing himself up from the sofa as he grabbed James' hand and dragged him towards the bedroom.

"I don't think you have rest in mind at the moment" James commented as he let Kendall lead him, causing the blond to let out a chuckle.

"No, but it'll certainly clear your mind" the blond replied, a small blush growing on the brunet's face as he shut the bedroom door behind him.

Kendall always knew exactly what he needed.

* * *

 **So there we have it! The crew have all gotten away safely and are camping out at Stephanie's place, while Kendall went to check on James. As expected, James was a mess, and the news that Camille is maybe the mole doesn't sit well with him. What do you guys think to that?**

 **I want to say a massive thank you to Guest, Winterschild11 and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter, and I'm so glad that you liked it! Kendall certainly did have it rough, but at least he's safe for the time being! The odds are certainly stacked again them, but with the crews help, hopefully they will get through it! Like I said earlier, this is the beginning of the end, so get ready for everything to start being wrapped up!**

 **I will see you all next Thursday for the next chapter of this, and I hope you all have a good week! But until then,**

 **TTFN 😀🚗**


	31. Chapter 31

**Hi Guys and welcome back to Rush and Response! I don't really have a lot to say here, so let's crack on shall we?**

* * *

"I still don't know if this is a good idea," James said, staring at the door to an apartment Kendall had taken him to. Apparently, it was where the rest of the crew were hiding out, so James spent the whole journey checking to see if anyone was following them. With the news he was about to share, he didn't need to make the situation any worse with the police showing up. James let out a breath of air at the thought, thinking about how at one time, Kendall would have been doing that exact thing by bringing James there.

"It's going to be fine James, I'm sure once you explain everything, they'll understand" Kendall replied, but James wasn't as convinced. Still, seeing very little in the way of options, James let Kendall knock on the door and after what left like a few minutes, but in reality, was only a few seconds, the door opened. "Hey" Kendall smiled sheepishly as Lucy stood here in front of him.

"Get your ass in here now. You're not bailing on me this time" Lucy ordered, causing both Kendall and James to nod as they walked in, Lucy closing the door behind them. "You have some serious explaining to do, so you better start" she continued, walking around the two guys to join Dak, Carlos, Logan and Stephanie in lounging on the furniture, while Kendall and James stood there, looking down on their inquisitive faces.

Letting out a sigh, James began. "I have something to tell you all, and you're probably going to hate me for it, but I need you to hear me out" James began, and that only seemed to make everyone's expressions worse. Pushing down the feeling that this was a bad idea, James spoke up again. "I was sent by the HFPD to infiltrate the street racing community and bring a stop to everything. While my main goal was to collect information on who the Crime Boss was, I was also tasked with learning the identities of street racers so that they could be arrested"

"You son of a bitch!" Lucy muttered, her eyes glaring at James, causing the brunet to swallow a lump in his throat.

"I know it sounds bad but-"

"It sounds bad?" Lucy said, her voice filled with sarcasm. "This is fucking hysterical! I was suspicious of you from the start! I knew there was something off about you, and I should have called you out on it when I first met you!"

"Lucy, if you'll just let him finish" Kendall spoke up, causing everyone's attention to turn on him.

"You knew about this didn't you?" Logan spoke up this time, causing Kendall to nod.

"I did. When we were arrested and I was split from the rest of you, James was tasked with interrogating me. Instead, he got the police to recruit me into helping them with their mission, in exchange for all your freedoms once the job was over"

"Our freedoms?" Lucy repeated, her voice laced with venom. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that in exchange for helping out the police, I would make sure that you all got pardoned and that all the money we earned doing it would be divided between the five of us evenly to help us get on our feet." Kendall replied, causing a few expressions in the room, mostly Dak's and Carlos', to soften slightly as they realised Kendall was only trying to help.

"Still, that wouldn't have been a concern if this prick hadn't infiltrated the crew" Lucy scoffed, causing James to roll his eyes at her attitude. He knew that this was a bad idea, but Lucy was really starting to piss him off now.

Standing up slightly straighter, James spoke up again. "Are you just being arrogant, or are you actually fucking stupid" James began, causing Lucy's eyes to widen at his tone. "Can't you see that one, Kendall was actually trying to help you and that he fought hard to get those terms, and two, you're not free at the moment, despite what you think. Just because you're free to leave your house in the morning, doesn't mean that you've got freedom. The Crime Boss is constantly hovering over you, making sure that you do whatever they tell you to do, and if you removed your head from your ass for a second, you'd realise that Kendall and I were trying to help you all. We were trying to get rid of the Crime Boss once and for all, and because of Kendall's deal, you truly would be free after that. He really worked hard to make sure that you guys didn't suffer because of us" James began, causing a small blush to grow on Kendall's face at James' words.

"I'm guessing it didn't go very well considering we're all here, and you're telling us all his" Carlos said, casing James to let out a sigh as he shook his head.

"It didn't. Something went wrong in our plan because the Crime Boss found out about it. The police fired me, and they withdrew from the deal with Kendall, hence why you had to leave the garage. And while I'm convinced you all hate me at the moment, I've come to answer for your help" James confessed, glancing at Kendal for a brief second. "We think someone in the police force is working for the Crime Boss, feeding them information, and I…we need your help to find out who it is"

"We already have our suspicions, but we want to be sure before we act" Kendall felt necessary to add, causing James to shake his head briefly. "So, as James said, if you don't hate us, then please help us" Kendall finished, causing the room to go silent for a few seconds as everyone glanced around at each other.

James and Kendall glanced at each other, both worried about what the others were thinking as all noise in the room seemed to vanish. After what felt like hours, a voice finally broke through the silence.

"What do you need us to do?" Logan asked, causing everyone to glance at him in shock, that he was the first person to speak.

"You can't seriously be considering this? They've lied to us and had us chased out of my garage, and you're still thinking of working with them" Lucy said, causing Logan to shrug, his eyes glancing down at the floor for a brief second as he gained some confidence.

"James is right. We're not truly free so long as we live under the Crime Boss' grasp, and I'm fed up with it. If we can help put them behind bars, then I think it's worth it" Logan said, causing Lucy to shake her head at his words.

"I agree" "Yeah, me too," Carlos and Dak said respectively, causing Lucy's head to whip round to the two of them.

"Seriously?" She asked, causing them both to nod.

"It's better than sitting around here, waiting for the police to inevitably show up. If we can help in finding out who the Crime Boss, maybe they'll be willing to hold up their end of the deal" Carlos stated, causing Dak to nod alongside him.

"You've got to be shitting me," Lucy said, standing up from her seat before making her way to the door. "You guys stay here all you want, and help out our little cop buddies, but I want no part in it"

"Lucy, wait!" Kendall said, but his response was Lucy slamming the door behind her. Letting out a sigh, Kendall turned back to the rest of the crew. "Thank you guys, for sticking with us," he said, causing a small smile to grow on everyone's faces.

"So, what can we do to help?" Logan asked, causing Kendall to glance over at James, who had the faintest smile on his face.

While it wasn't the perfect outcome, it was certainly close.

"We need your computer skills Logan" James began, causing Logan to nod as he pushed himself up from the chair and made his way over to his laptop.

"What am I looking for?" Logan asked, causing James to let out a sigh as he followed the brunet.

"Anything that could connect…Camille Roberts to the Crime boss" James replied, finding it difficult to even say with betrayal piercing through his heart.

"We're talking bank statements, phone calls, anything that could show that she blocked radio transmissions, or deleted camera footage" Kendall took over, seeing that it was difficult for James to say.

"That's a big ask," Logan said, loading up his computer.

"That's why we came to you" Kendall replied, causing a smug smile to grow on Logan's face as he got set up.

"What about us?" Dak asked, causing Kendall to turn to them.

"I need you to go round garages and try to find any information about someone bringing in a damage black Dodge Challenger on these dates. We need to know who the driver is, as we think that our murderer" Kendall stated, causing both Dak and Carlos to nod as they push themselves up from the sofa.

"Just, be careful. I don't need you guys getting in any more trouble because of me" James said, causing Carlos to let out a little chuckle.

"Don't worry about us, running from trouble is what we do," The Latino said, patting James on the back before they left the apartment, leaving only James, Logan and Kendall.

Letting out a sigh, James sank down onto one of the sofas, causing Kendall to sit down next to him.

"What's up?" Kendall asked, causing James to run his hands through his hair.

"I still just can't believe that Camille would do something like this," James said, causing Kendall to place his hand onto James' knee.

"That's why Logan's looking into it. Hopefully, you'll be right, and she'll have nothing to do with this" Kendall replied, knowing that's what James wanted to hear.

Deep down, however, Kendall couldn't shake the feeling that somehow she was involved.

* * *

"Found something?" Kendall asked when Logan beckoned him over after about an hour of searching.

"Yeah, quite a bit actually" Logan replied, causing Kendall to let out a sigh. While he knew that this was good news, since they'd identified the mole, he also knew that James wasn't going to take the news well. Still, it was probably better for him to hear it straight than be lied to.

"James," Kendall said, gesturing for the brunet to make his way over to them, and as James did so, Kendall could see the trepidatious look on his face. Once James had joined them, Logan clicked onto his laptop, loading up a few screens.

"So to start, I went looking at her bank accounts. I felt like if she was working for the Crime Boss, then she must be paying off some sort of debt, so I went looking. I found multiple bank accounts registered in her name, and even some registered to a different name, but I was able to find a standing order that is being sent on a weekly basis to a bank account that I couldn't access any information about." Logan began, causing James to shake his head briefly.

"Still, that doesn't mean that she's sending money to the Crime Boss, only that she's sending it to someone. For all we know, she could be sending it to a family member or someone that needs it" James reasoned, causing Logan to shake his head this time.

"If that were the case, then I would have been able to trace it back to someone. The bank account she's sending money into is completely unregistered, almost like it doesn't actually exist, and there's only one person that has enough pull to have something like that" Logan explained, causing James to let out a shallow sigh.

While James was still trying to advocate that Camille was actually a good person, he knew that this certainly wasn't a good start for her, and as much as he wanted to remain hopeful, he couldn't help but feel like it was futile.

With James going quiet, Logan spoke up again. "I also had a word with Kendall about what happened during the plan, and he said something about the camera system being hacked?" Logan said, phrasing it was a question, even though it wasn't. "So, I hacked into the system myself to see what I could find. The system itself was fairly complex, and I struggled with it a few times myself, so if someone was hacking into the system, they've had to be pretty good" Logan continued, causing James to raise an eyebrow.

"So what are you trying to say, that no one hacked into the system?" James asked, causing Logan to click onto the next tab in his laptop.

"What I'm trying to say if that it's easy to make it look like someone hacked into a system once you're inside it, and when I was inside the system, I found this. It's a computer virus, uploaded to make it look like someone hacked into the cameras and shut off the feeds when instead it was doing everything. When I analysed it, I was able to find the IP address that it was created under, and unfortunately, that tracked back to Camille's apartment." Logan stated, causing James to rub his head as he sat down in a chair.

"Is there anything else?" James asked, glancing up at Logan who had a sad smile on his face.

"Kendall also told me that Camille tried to trace a call he'd received from the Crime Boss and that she said it was bounced off of a load of different signal towers around the world" Logan stated, causing James to nod. "Well, I also found traces of calls made to her that follow that exact pattern, so it's reasonable to predict that she's also received calls from the Crime Boss as well. But, that's everything" Logan finished, causing James to roll his eyes at the statement as he pushed himself up from the chair and walked out the front door himself.

Seeing the look on Logan's face, Kendall shot him a small smile. "Thanks for that Logan, you've been a real help," Kendall said, knowing that he should follow James out to check on him.

Before he opened the door, however, the blond turned back to Logan.

"Do you think you could do me another favour?" Kendall asked, causing Logan to raise an eyebrow at him. "Could you also run a background check on Gustavo Rocque" he questioned, causing Logan to nod, a small smile growing on Kendall's face before he opened the door.

* * *

After hearing everything about Camille, James knew that he needed to get out of the apartment, hence why he just got up and left. He still couldn't believe everything that Logan had said to him, he didn't want to believe it, but there was no denying it now. James let out a sigh, his whole body lulling against the railings as he stared out over the city, pondering what this all meant. He wasn't very deep in thought when he heard an apartment door open and close behind him before someone put a hand on his shoulder, occupying the space opposite him.

"Hey," Kendall said as James continued to stare out at the city.

"I still can't believe it. Camille's working for the Crime Boss, and she's been sabotaging everything we've been doing. I really trusted her and respected her, and now it just feels like I've been stabbed in the gut," James replied, letting out another sigh as he did so, while Kendall let out a small chuckle, something James picked up on immediately. "What's so funny?" James asked, a venomous tone to his words as he spoke.

"It's just…" Kendall began, mulling over what he wanted to say for a brief second. "You finally know how I felt when I found out about you. The betrayal, the hurt, the feeling like you've been used" Kendall continued, causing James to let out a deep breath as he turned to his side, facing the blond.

"God, now I feel even worse" James replied, a frown forming on his face. "I'm so sorry Kendall, I didn't want to make you feel like this, but I want you to know that I…I…I, um," James said, stuttering for a brief second at whether he wanted to say what his mind was shouting at him. Letting out a sigh, James finally decided to go for it. "I want you to know that I love you Kendall" James finally said, a whirl of emotions flowing through his system, however, it didn't help that the primary one was panic, by Kendall's current lack of response. "And it's ok if you don't love me back or anything-"

James was cut off by Kendall's lip connecting with his own, and the brunet immediately relaxed into the kiss, feeling like all the weight of the day had been lifted off of his shoulders. Kendall was the first to pull out, resting his head on James' chest.

"I love you too James" Kendall replied, causing both their hearts to flutter at the same time. They stayed like that for a few minutes, Kendall resting his head on James' chest while James held him, both of them looking out over the city as they wondered what they'd have to face next. Whatever it was, at least they both knew that they'd do it together. Letting out a sigh, James patted Kendall on the back a couple of times, causing the blond to look him at him.

"As much as I hate to break this up, we should probably get back inside and inform the police about Camille," the brunet said, causing Kendall to frown slightly into James' chest.

"I don't know if that's the best idea. We don't know if there are any more dodgy cops in the precinct. If we go in, telling everyone that Camille is dodgy, she might just be replaced with someone else. We need to be smart about this" Kendall replied, causing James to glance down at him.

"What you do suggest we do then?" James asked, causing a small grin to grow on Kendall's face. Linking his hand with James, Kendall led the way back into the apartment, flashing Logan a small smile.

"Found anything?" Kendall asked, causing Logan to shake his head, confusion written all over James' face.

"Provided I haven't been looking for very long, but no, I can't find any connection between him and the Crime Boss" Logan replied, causing James to interrupt.

"Sorry, who are you looking into now?" he asked, causing him to glance between Kendall and Logan.

"I asked Logan to check out Gustavo for me. You know I've always had a funny feeling about him, but since Logan can't find anything, I'm guessing he can be trusted." Kendall explained, causing James to raise an eyebrow at the blond.

While he certainly didn't condone what Kendall had done, he couldn't help but be grateful for it. At least they had one person they could trust.

"I'll text Gustavo, and ask to arrange a meeting with him. Hopefully, if he doesn't arrest me as soon as I show up, we'll be able to show him the evidence and come up with a plan to get rid of Camille." James replied, knowing that was a fairly big 'if.'

He only hoped that all the work he'd done for the precinct would result in at least five minutes where he could explain everything.

* * *

 **So there we have it! Shocking news, but Camille is actually the mole and she's been working for the Crime Boss! I'm guessing a lot of you didn't see this coming, but I felt like it made perfect sense! At least we got a cute Kames moment out of the chapter though right?**

 **I want to say a massive thank you to Winterschild11, Guest, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter and I'm so glad that you liked it! You all seemed to agree that Camille working for the Crime Boss does make sense, and while you didn't want to happen, I thought it was too good of an opportunity to pass up! Don't worry, everything will be explained soon!**

 **I hope you have a great week, and I will see you next Thursday for the next chapter! But until then,**

 **TTFN 😀🚗**


	32. Chapter 32

**Hi Guys and welcome back to Rush and Response! A bit of a shorter chapter today, but it's certainly necessary! So, let's crack on with it, shall we?**

* * *

About ten minutes after the text message was sent, James finally received a response, saying that Gustavo had agreed to meet with him at the coffee shop where they'd planned before.

"I should probably go alone" James spoke, as he'd received the response, causing Kendall to frown slightly.

"Are you sure? I could just sit in the car and wait for you. I just don't want you to do this alone if you don't want too" Kendall replied, causing James to shake his head, placing his phone into his pocket as he did so.

"No, I'll be fine. Besides, I don't want to put you or anyone else in any more danger" James stated, causing Kendall, to let out a nod, albeit reluctantly.

"Alright, we'll be here waiting for you when you get back. Just be careful alright?" Kendall said, causing James to nod. "Come on, I'll walk you out."

"Thanks" James replied, noticing that Kendall was handing him the keys to the mustang.

James graciously took them, knowing how much the car meant to the blond, and with that, the two of them left the apartment and headed down the stairs. Chat was strained between the two of them, each of them worrying about the other, as well as the outcome of this situation, but both men were shocked when they came across a familiar black and red-haired woman walking up the staircase.

"Hey," Kendall said tentatively to get Lucy's attention, causing her to glance up at the two of them, almost shocked at their presence.

"Oh hey. I was actually just coming to talk to you" Lucy replied, causing both James and Kendall to glance at each other for a brief second, before returning their attention to her. "I actually wanted to apologise for what I said earlier"

"Lucy, you have nothing to apologise for." James quickly cut her off, causing her eyes to widen briefly as she let him continue. "I knew what I was going to say was a big shock, and you reacted naturally to it. You don't need to be sorry for that"

"I know, but I probably shouldn't have stormed out. I should have listened to what you had to say, and you were right, you both only were trying to help. I should have seen that earlier" She replied, causing Kendall to shake his head this time.

"Hey, it's all in the past now. All that matters now is that we forgive and forgot. After all, we're still a crew at the end of the day, and we stand by each other, no matter what right?" Kendall replied, causing Lucy to smile back at him.

"Right" She nodded, causing James to briefly smile at her.

"So, we're cool?" he asked, causing her to nod.

"We're cool. After all, you are part of the crew" She replied, causing it to go quiet for a few seconds before she spoke up again. "Anyway, I should head back up. I'll chat to you later?" she asked, causing both men to nod.

As the three of them parted ways, James couldn't help but let out a deep breath, he didn't know he was holding, slightly honoured that Lucy considered him part of the crew, and the thought pretty much occupied his mind until he reached the mustang. As James opened the car door, Kendall couldn't help but lean in and kiss James on the cheek, causing the brunet to subtly smile.

"You're gonna be fine" Kendall spoke up, causing James to let out a sigh, anxiety hitting him in full force.

"But what if I'm not. What if Gustavo doesn't listen to a word I say?" James replied. "Then we don't have a plan"

"We'll come up with a new plan. We've got everyone here to help us, and hell, I'm sure you've even got some cop buddies back in New York that would be willing to give us a hand. We're going to be fine James, and if Gustavo is stupid enough to ignore this, then we're probably better off without his help" Kendall replied, causing a small smile to grow on James' face as he dipped down to kiss the blond on the lips.

"I love you Kendall"

"I love you too" Kendall replied, hand on the top of the mustang's door. "Now you better get going. You don't want to piss him off by being late" Kendall continued, causing James to let out a little chuckle before he closed the mustang's door.

Starting the engine, James revved it a couple of times before pulling out of the space, Kendall waving the whole time. As James drove away, Kendall finally let out the deep breath he was holding.

While he knew he and James could be ok if this didn't work, for the sake of both of them, Kendall hoped it really would. A lot of time and effort would be saved that way, and Kendall knew that the quicker this thing was over, the better.

* * *

As James walked into the coffee shop, he shivered, already feeling like the temperature has dropped in the store. Well, it was either that or the ice-cold stare that Gustavo was giving him, causing James to swallow a lump in his throat as he approached the police captain.

"Thank you for meeting with me," James said as he sat down, causing Gustavo to stare at him as he adjusted himself in the seat so that he could lean over to the table to talk to James.

"I should have you arrested" was the first sentence out of the police captain's mouth, causing James to shiver discreetly once again. "I should charge you right here with obstruction of justice for warning Kendall and his crew. I should also charge you with manslaughter because someone died whilst going through with your plan. What do you have to say that would stop me from standing up right now, and bringing you in?"

"I have evidence that someone in the precinct is working for the Crime Boss" James replied, swallowing once again as he did so, struggling to keep eye contact with Gustavo. When the police captain backed off a little bit, James let out a sigh.

"I'm listening," Gustavo said, causing James to pull out the file and hand it to him.

"Something about the whole situation didn't seem to add up, and Kendall helped me realise that. Our communications were cut, but at separate times when it should have been all at once, and Kendall got a phone call afterwards from the Crime Boss. They knew about the undercover cars and the entire plan, but only five of us in the precinct knew about it" James continued, as Gustavo read along in the file.

"You can't be serious," Gustavo said, finally reaching the heavy hitter in the file. "You seriously think that Camille is working for the Crime Boss? She's been in the precinct for years, why would she do this?" Gustavo asked, causing James to let out a sigh as he slouched back in his seat.

"It's all in there. She's indebted to the Crime Boss and has been sending them money from several bank accounts on a weekly basis. Logan-"

"Logan?" Gustavo asked in shock, putting the file down on the table for a second as he stared at James. "You elicited the help of known criminals, and entrusted them with police information?"

"Look, you can scold me later" James snapped back, finding his voice once again. "We both know that this is bigger than all of us, and if we don't put an end to it soon, more people are going to get hurt. I did what I had to do to get that done, and if that meant getting the help of 'known' criminals, then so be it, but you know these people Gustavo. You know they're not bad people, they're just caught in a bad situation, and they wanted to help, for both our sakes and theirs" James continued, causing Gustavo to stare at him for a brief second, his eyes piercing yet questioning. James knew that the police captain was trying to decide what to do, and James could only hope that he chose to side with him.

Without saying anything, Gustavo picked up the file once again, causing James to let out a sigh. "As I was saying, Logan also found evidence that Camille has been corrupting the camera system to delete any evidence of the murderer, and he also found evidence of phone calls made that follow the exact same pattern as the ones made to Kendall" James finished, causing Gustavo to go silent as he took everything. James sat patiently, knowing that this was certainly a lot to process, but he was shocked when the police captain spoke up so quickly.

"Something doesn't make sense" Gustavo began, causing James to raise an eyebrow at him. "If there was a virus in the camera system, then our IT people would have picked up on it, almost as quickly as Logan did and informed someone about it."

"Who would they have informed?" James asked, causing Gustavo to frown slightly.

"If I can recall protocol correctly, it wouldn't have been anyone in the precinct as theoretically, one of us could have planted the virus into the system. Instead, I'm pretty sure that they would have told…fuck" Gustavo said, it finally dawning on him, causing the captain to ball his hands into fists. "They would have told the commissioner. He has the ultimate power in these situations, as if he believes a precinct has corruption within it, he can do something about it"

"But he hasn't done anything about it. That sly fucker, I knew something was off about him when I met him that first time"

"James, this is a serious problem. If the commissioner is working for the HFPD, then it makes sense as to why the Crime Boss has been able to avoid us for so many years. Then, as soon as you start to make some 'progress' in the case, Griffin shows up and internally sabotages us with the help of Camille. That's why he was so adamant that you should go through with this. He knew you were going to fail, and he could use that to his advantage."

"We have to do something about this!" James said, causing Gustavo to shake his head.

"We can't. We don't have enough evidence to incriminate him just yet, and I bet that Logan won't be able to find much dirt on him. Someone as powerful as him would have had it scrubbed completely clean. We can do something about Camille however, and hopefully, it will put him in edge, and he'll screw up" Gustavo reasoned, causing James to let out a sigh. The captain was right, he knew that he needed to be sensible with this. Still, the fact that this corruption ran so deep was angering James to no end. "So, what do you recommend we do?" Gustavo asked, causing James' eyes to widen.

"Me? I would have thought you'd have a plan" James said, causing Gustavo to shake his head.

"This is your case, _detective,_ you decide how we proceed" Gustavo replied, causing a small smile to grow on James' face at the word. Still, he knew it couldn't let himself get distracted at the moment. Taking, a deep breath, James spoke up.

"We need to find a way to draw her out, to make her do something that proves explicitly that she's trying to cover up for the Crime Boss…and I think I have something" James began, a small smile growing on his face as he spoke. "I'll go to her, and say that I believe there's a crooked cop in the force. I'll show her the bits of evidence that don't directly incriminate her, like the fact that someone cut off communications from inside the precinct as well as the virus in the camera system. I'll tell her that I'm not good enough to crack its code and that I need her help to find where it's been created. If I'm right, that should cause her to log into the system and change something in the virus which we'll be able to track." James continued, before glancing over at Gustavo. "We're not going to be able to do this alone. We're going to need Logan's help. He's the only one smart enough to pull his off, and the only one I trust to do it."

"Then fill him in on the plan," Gustavo said, causing a small smile to creep on James' face. "As of this moment, the two of us have declared war on the HFPD, and I don't have to tell you, James, that this could ruin us forever. We can't afford to make any mistakes, and as much as I don't like it, we're going to need all the help we can get" Gustavo continued, causing James to smile as he nodded.

"Thank you for trusting me," James said, causing Gustavo to let out a little scoff.

"Please, you're a pain in the ass, but I've always trusted your judgement. You made some real headway in this case, and if it wasn't for people working against you, I'm sure you would have solved it by now. I just hope that we can get this resolved as quickly as possible so I can kick Griffin's ass" Gustavo replied, causing James to let out a little chuckle.

"I'll be right there with you" James grinned, causing Gustavo to smile as he extended his hand out for a handshake.

"So, what do you say detective? Ready to bring this to an end?"

"Yes, sir!" James said, grabbing Gustavo's hand and giving him a firm handshake, the brunet grateful and pleased at how this meeting turned out.

Things were certainly about to get ugly, but with the help of everyone, James was sure they'd get through it.

* * *

 **So there we have it! James' meeting with Gustavo went to plan, with the police captain agreeing to help them, and now James has a plan in place to help expose Camille. We can only wait and see how that works.**

 **I want to say a massive thank you to Guest, Winterschild11, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter and I'm so glad you liked it! One of you will have finally gotten your wish, which is that Griffin is exposed, and you all also seem to think that Camille is still a good person, and is only doing this because she doesn't have a choice. Once again, we'll have to wait and see!**

 **I hope you've all had a good couple of weeks and I will see you all next Thursday for the next chapter of this. But until then,**

 **TTFN 😀🚗**


	33. Chapter 33

**Hi Guys and welcome back to Rush and Response! I don't have a lot to say apart from sorry for the late update, so let's crack on with it, shall we?**

* * *

James hesitated as he brought his fist up to Camille's door, the reality of what he was doing hitting him like a brick wall. This whole situation was fucked up, and James still couldn't believe that one of the people he'd trusted most could have been secretly sabotaging them the entire time. James let out a sigh, this would be the defining moment as to Camille's loyalties and James wasn't sure if he wanted to know.

Still, the cop in him knew that the job needed to be done, so with a heavy heart, James knocked on the door. It was a few seconds later when it opened, and Camille let out a gasp before pulling James into a hug.

"Oh thank god, you're ok," she said, squeezing him tight. "I was so worried! When we lost communication, I had no clue what happened and then Gustavo and Griffin wouldn't tell me anything!" Camille continued, causing James to reciprocate the hug, knowing that he had to act natural.

"Yeah, I'm ok. They kicked me off the force and are launching a 'formal investigation' into what happened, so I don't know what's going to come out of it" James replied as Camille took a step back and led him into the apartment.

"And what about Kendall and the crew? From what I could gather, the deal with them is off" Camille replied, causing James to nod as he dropped down on her sofa.

"Yeah, they're ok as well. They managed to get out of the garage before the police could raid it" James replied, before letting out a sigh as he rubbed his forehead. "But I have to admit Camille, I didn't come here for a catch-up. I actually…er…have something I want to show you and you're the only person I trust with it" A pain shot up James' spine at the lie, but he was quick to ignore it as Camille looked at him with her eyes wide.

"Oh, well what it is?" she asked, sitting down next to him, causing James to let out a soft sigh as he reached into his bag.

"I think someone in the police force is working for the Crime Boss" James admitted, causing Camille to gasp slightly.

"That's…that's a big accusation James"

"I know, I know but I have proof" James replied, opening the file. "So, firstly, I was thinking about the camera system, right? We don't have footage for the nights of the murders because they were either committed on the 15th or because the footage was corrupted, but the only way someone could have done that was to get into the system itself. As well as that, why would our comms cut off if someone didn't want us talking to each other? I think someone has been working for the Crime Boss and has been sabotaging us" James finished, only showing Camille the pieces of evidence that didn't incriminate her directly.

Looking closely, James could see the worry in Camille's eyes, but he didn't question it, letting her take everything in.

"Do you know who it could be?" she asked, causing James to shake his head.

"I don't really know, but I was hoping you could help me. I thought if maybe you could get into the camera system, you could find someone that could lead us back to someone. I don't know a lot about computers and all that but since you do, I was thinking that you could find an IP address or something to follow?" James continued, causing Camille to fidget slightly.

"I don't know James. I mean, I'm still working for the police and if they find out that I'm working behind their back, they might not take it well. Besides, if I get fired then we won't have a clue what's happening on the inside" Camille reasoned, but James shook his head.

"Please Camille, I need you to do this for me! You're the only person that I trust and if we don't do this, then the police will continue to be corrupt and we'll never find out who the Crime Boss is. I promise, I won't ask you to do anything else after this, but I really need you on this one. You're my only hope" James pleaded, causing Camille to let out a little sigh as she cast her eyes to the ground for a brief second before looking back up at him.

"Alright, I'll do it. But if I get caught, I'm dobbing you straight in" she replied, causing James to nod as he smiled back at her.

"Thank you so much!"

"I'm not promising anything James. I'm not that good with computers so I might not be able to find anything, and it might take some time, but I'll let you know if I do find anything" Camille continued, causing James to nod.

"That's all I can ask" James replied, gathering his file and placing it back into his bag. "I should get going, we don't want the police getting suspicious. But please, let me know if you find anything. Anything at all" James reaffirmed, causing Camille to nod once more, her eyes shifting slightly.

As James left her apartment, and the door closed behind him, he couldn't help but let out a sigh as he slouched slightly. That was definitely one of the harder things he'd had to do during this case, and he could only hope that it would pay off in their favour.

* * *

As James returned to where Logan and the rest of the crew were set up, Kendall was right by his side as he walked through the door.

"You ok?" the blond asked, causing James to nod ever so slightly as he set out a sigh.

"I just hope all of this works out. I mean, if this blows up in our faces then we're all fucked" James replied, causing Kendall to place his hand onto James' shoulder and squeeze it.

"I'm sure everything is going to work out. We just have to be hopeful" Kendall replied, causing James to flash him a small smile in return as they made their way further into the room.

Gustavo and Logan were gathered around a computer, watching out for any changes in the computer system while Lucy, Dak and Carlos were sat on the sofas waiting for something to happen.

"How's everyone getting on?" James asked Kendall quietly, causing the blond to let out a little sigh, as he rubbed his forehead.

"It's been tense. No one quite trusts Gustavo due to the fact that he's the Captain of police and I think while Gustavo knows he has to work with us, he's still uncomfortable with it. Everyone's trying to focus on the mission, but it's been difficult, and Gustavo and Lucy have butted heads a few times" Kendall replied, causing James to let out a short soft chuckle.

"That's to be expected. They're both big personalities, who are used to having people work for them" James replied, causing Kendall to nod as he let out a sigh once again.

"Yeah, but I think more than anything, everyone's worried about what this will mean after the case is solved. Will Gustavo honour the deal he made, or will he have us all arrested? No one can really tell" Kendall continued, causing James to nod.

"I'll make sure he honours the deal. After all, none of this would have been possible without you guys" James replied before leaning in to place a kiss on Kendall's lips. The kiss was chaste, yet exactly what was needed to relieve some of the nervous energy between them. As they pulled out, they all heard Logan speak up.

"I've got something!" he said, causing James and Kendall to make their way over to the computer, staring over Gustavo's shoulder.

"What's going on?" James asked, causing Logan to point to the screen.

"Someone else is in the camera system, and they're going straight for the virus that was uploaded" Logan commented, before pulling up a code bar at the side of the screen.

"What are you doing?" Gustavo asked, watching as Logan began to type away on the keyboard.

"I'm tracing the entry point of our visitor. It doesn't matter what they change the IP address of the virus too, but what does matter is where they've entered the system from. That way, we'll know whether it's Camille or not." Logan replied, inputting more code into the bar as everyone waited in suspense.

A few seconds passed before Logan let out a sigh, dropping his hands from the keys.

"What happened?" James asked, now staring at Logan with a quizzical look on his face.

"They've left the system" Logan began, before bringing his hands back up to the keys. "But I was able to trace their location. They're on the corner of 2nd and May street, apartment 4J" Logan announced, causing James to ball his fists as his side.

"That's her address" James stated, before heading towards the door.

"Where do you think you're going, detective?" Gustavo asked as he pushed himself up from his chair.

"To get answers" James replied, glancing back to the Captain, who was walking towards him.

"Not without me you're not" Gustavo replied and just before the two of them reached the door, they heard Kendall speak up.

"Here, take my car" he stated, throwing the keys towards James.

Catching them, the brunet flashed Kendall a loving smile before he opened the door, allowing him and the police Captain to leave and get answers. It was safe to say that he certainly needed them, especially after finding out the truth.

* * *

James wasn't gentle as he reached Camille's door for the second time that day, the brunet instead slamming his fist against it. Camille swung the door open as James did so, and her eyes widened at the sight of him and Gustavo.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, but James didn't have time to answer, pushing her back into the apartment.

"You deceiving bitch" James spat, causing Camille's eyes to widen further as she dropped down on the sofa, Gustavo now shutting the door to the apartment.

"Excuse me?" Camille replied offended, but that didn't stop James from his tirade.

"I can't believe you've been working against me this entire time! That you've been working for the Crime Boss!" James began, causing Camille to shuffle slightly on her sofa.

"James, I don't have a clue what you're talking about. I'm not working for the Crime Boss! I agreed to help you remember?" Camille replied causing James to roll his eyes.

"I do remember, and then we all watched as you accessed the camera system and tried to change the IP address of the virus you uploaded into the system so that it couldn't incriminate you" James explained, causing Camille's eyes to widen further as she got a little twitchier.

"Seriously James, I don't know what you're talking about" Camille reiterated, but it only pissed James off further.

"There's no point denying it! We've found bank transfers from your accounts into a secret one and we know it was you to cut off our communications during the plan. We knew everything Camille, and yet I still didn't want to believe it was you. That's why I came to you earlier, as one last chance to prove that you weren't, and you blew it. What I want to know is why Camille! Why are you doing this?"

"To protect my family!" Camille replied, realising that there was no point in denying it further. "To protect my dad. He got into some serious shit a couple of years ago and he needed to be bailed out of it. He didn't have the money and neither did I but when someone approached me and said they'd do it for me, I jumped at the chance! He was my dad James, and I'd do anything to get him out of trouble! But what I didn't realise was that that meant infiltrating the police force and feeding information back. At first, it was simple stuff like patrol routes and deployments but then you came along and started to fuck everything up!" Camille stated, causing James to shake his head.

"Fuck everything up? Don't you mean doing my fucking job and actually working to prevent crime in this city!" James replied, shaking his head as he spoke. "I thought we were partners Camille! I thought we were friends and that we were gonna get promotions together, so do you know how devastating it was when I found out that it was you fucking everything up for me!" James replied, causing Camille to cast her eyes down to the ground.

"I'm not going to apologise for what I've done. I did what I had to to keep my father safe, and I don't regret any of it. I did want to help out with the case and bring down the Crime Boss but my loyalties are to my family first. Surely you can understand that" Camille replied, and that caused anger to flare in James' eyes.

"I do understand that Camille, and that's why I hope you rot in prison for the rest of your life" James gritted out, thoughts of his mother and brother flashing in his mind. That's when Gustavo took over, seeing how emotional and angry James was getting. Usually, that was his job, but he knew they wouldn't anywhere if they were both infuriated.

"Look, Camille, you're not going to come out of this with a pardon, but you could at least help us bring down the Crime Boss. With them gone, your father will be safe, we can guarantee that" Gustavo said, causing Camille to let out a little sigh as she shook her head.

"I don't know a lot, but I can tell you the licence plate of the Dodge Challenger that's been committing the murders and I can give you a copy of the camera footage that I corrupted" Camille conceded, causing James to shake his head once again as she wrote the information down in the notepad Gustavo had handed her.

"That's it? You've been destroying evidence and that's all you can give us?" James snapped, causing Camille to let out a sigh as she rubbed her forehead.

"I'm just a low-level lackey James, I don't know anything, I don't even know where all the information I send actually goes. But at least with the licence plate, you'll be able to set up an APB for the car and find out who the murderer is. That'll bring you one step closer to the Crime Boss" Camille replied, causing James to just shake his head once again.

It definitely wasn't what he wanted, but it was enough.

"So, what do we do with her now?" James asked Gustavo, causing Camille's eyes to go straight to the Captain, worry present within them.

"What happens now is that I take her down to the station for processing while you get out of here and tell everyone about what you've found out" Gustavo replied, causing James' eyebrows to raise slightly. "You're still not on the force James, which means that we can't risk you being discovered, or this could blow everything. Plus, Camille deserved to be behind bars, and as the captain, I have the authority to do it."

"But what about Griffin. Surely he's going to get suspicious if you bring Camille in and claim she's working for the Crime Boss?" James replied, causing Gustavo to grin slightly.

"And that's what we want. If he sees that we're making an effort to expose people, then hopefully he'll get paranoid and mess up somehow. You let me worry about him. Now get out of here before the police arrive." Gustavo reiterated, causing James to nod as he took a photo of the licence plate number.

Leaving the apartment, James said his final words to Camille, not even looking at her as he did so.

"I hope you get what you deserve" James stated before slamming the door behind him.

As he got back to the mustang, he couldn't help but slouch into the seat at the events that had transpired. Loading up the photo on his phone, James let out a sigh. He could only hope that this small piece of information was worth all of the betrayal and suffering that he's gone through to get it.

* * *

 **So there we have it! Proof that Camille is working for the Crime Boss as well as her reason for doing so! Like many of you thought, she was doing this for a reason, which was to protect her dad, so she's not a bad person! Still, James didn't seem so impressed!**

 **I want to say a massive thank you to Guest, Winterschild11, EpicallyObsessed, Deb24 and RainbowDiamonds for reviewing the last chapter and I'm so glad you liked it! You seemed to love the fact that Gustavo is now on board, and while he certainly has been a jackass a few times, it's safe to say that he wants what's best for the city like James! You also seemed to like Lucy apologising to James as well as her calling James part of the crew! I certainly felt like it was time for that, with everything that was going on!**

 **So, I want to apologise for being so flaky with chapter uploads at the moment, as I certainly haven't been the most reliable with them, but I will try to get the next chapter up on Thursday, Friday at the lastest, and that chapter will be the second to last, so expect an explosive one! Anyway, I hope you're all doing well at the moment and I will see you next week for the next chapter of this! But until then,**

 **TTFN :D (It's not letting me add emojis on my computer at the moment, so we're going old school again!)**


	34. Chapter 34

**Hi Guys and welcome back to the penultimate chapter of Rush and Response! Look at me being on time for the first time in about 4 weeks! Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy!**

* * *

As soon as James walked back into Stephanie's apartment, he went straight to Logan who was still sitting at the computer.

"What can you do with a licence plate?" James asked, startling the brunet who was absorbed in his work.

"Quite a bit actually. I can find out who has owned the car, and who owns it now. I can also put out an APB on it so that if it's spotted on a camera, we'll be alerted" Logan replied, causing James to nod as he pulled his own out of his pocket and loaded the photo he'd taken.

"I need you to do that on this one, can you do that for me?" James asked, causing Logan to nod as he noted down the plate.

"Yeah, it might take some time, but I can do it"

"Do whatever you can. This is the only lead we've got" James stated, before feeling a hand slide across his shoulders.

"Everything alright?" Kendall asked, causing James to nod as he shrugged Kendall's arm off of him.

"Yeah, everything's fine. Get on that for me Logan" James replied, causing Logan to nod once again before James walked away.

Thankfully Kendall was on his tail. "Everything's clearly not ok, so are you going to tell me what's going on?" Kendall asked as he followed James back out of the apartment, the brunet now overlooking the city once again. James didn't reply for a while, instead just hanging his head as he let out a sigh, so Kendall said nothing, instead just being there waiting for James to respond.

"I'm just ready for all of this to be over" James finally spoke up, Kendall placing his arm over James' shoulder once again. This time the brunet relaxed into it, causing a small smile to grow on Kendall's face despite the situation.

"I take it things with Camille didn't go well" Kendall replied, causing James to shake his head briefly, letting out another sigh.

"I got so angry and told her I hoped she rotted in prison for the rest of her life, but the truth is, she's in no different position to you," James said, hanging his head once again. "It's just, she made it sound like I was the bad guy, that I was the one who was fucking everything up, and then she told me that her loyalties were to her family and that surely I could understand that" James continued, Kendall wincing at the last part.

"I can't imagine you took that particularly well" Kendall replied, causing James to shake his head again as he glanced over at Kendall.

"I lost it, Gustavo was actually the calm one this time and yet all we managed to get out of her was a licence plate" James stated, causing Kendall to begin rubbing his back.

"You heard Logan, you can get a lot out of a licence plate" Kendall justified, causing James to sigh once again.

"I know, but at some point, I don't know, I'm just starting to wonder if this will all be worth it" James admitted, causing Kendall to pull him into a hug.

"It will be James because think of all the people you'll be helping. You're going to bring one of the biggest criminals in the city to justice" Kendall replied, causing James to just shake his head.

"But what happens if another one just rises to take their place? This'll all be for nothing" James stated, causing Kendall to shake his head this time.

"It wouldn't be for nothing because you'll have brought justice to the city. And you can't think like that James, it's only going to make the situation worse. With the Crime Boss gone, the police can start making real efforts to reduce the levels of corruption in the city and maintaining order. Hopefully, this type of thing won't happen again" Kendall continued, causing James to let out one last sigh.

"I hope you're right," James said, pulling back out of the hug to place a chaste kiss on the blond's lips. With James now staring back out over the city, Kendall let out a sigh of his own.

"I hope I am too" Kendall mumbled under his breath before joining James in looking out over the city, knowing that the brunet needed as much support as he could get.

* * *

It was about half an hour later when the two of them heard the door open behind them. The two spun around to see Logan stood there, the brunet sporting a small grin on his face.

"I've found the Challenger" Logan said, causing both James' and Kendall's eyes to widen as they followed the brunet back into the apartment and over to his computer. "I've got an alert from the APB from a garage in the city. When I hacked into the camera system to check it out, I found that the Challenger was currently being worked on" Logan continued, causing both James and Kendall to stare at the live feed on his computer. It showed the three of them a damaged black Dodge Challenger sat in a garage.

"Any clue who it belongs to?" James asked, causing Logan to shake his head.

"Unfortunately not. The car was bought with cash so there's no way I could track it" Logan replied, causing Kendall to raise an eyebrow.

"What about any idea as to who's driving it?" Kendall asked, causing Logan to frown slightly.

"I did manage to find that out" Logan replied, before tapping the back arrow on his computer, causing the footage to rewind.

"Watch close" Logan commented and the three of them watched in anticipation as the driver of the Challenger was revealed.

As soon as it was, however, both James' and Kendall's faces dropped, with the two of them heading straight towards the apartment door without previous coordination.

"Send me the address of that garage" Kendall spoke up as he walked, causing Logan to nod.

"I've also alerted Gustavo and he said he'd meet you there!" Logan called out, but neither of them responded to what he'd said.

This had now become personal.

* * *

James and Kendall didn't wait for backup as they stormed into the garage and headed straight for the car. Thankfully, the person they were looking for was working under it, causing James to pull the dolly out from under the car. As he eyes landed on the person they'd expected, James fury grew as he grabbed the person by their collar and yanked them up off the dolly before forcing them against the car.

"You little prick, I knew it was you the entire time" James growled out, forcing WayneWayne's head against the roof.

"And yet you weren't very good at catching me" WayneWayne replied, causing James to slam his head into the car roof this time.

"Don't fucking test me WayneWayne. I'm not in the mood right now" James threatened, causing WayneWayne to spit out blood onto the roof. "I want to know who's been ordering you to commit these murders"

"And why the fuck would I tell you that?" WayneWayne replied, causing James to slam his head into the car roof again.

"Because if you don't, I'm going to torture the information out of you" James replied, causing Kendall to wince at James' tone.

It was safe to say that the brunet was starting to scare him slightly. Placing his hand on James' shoulder, Kendall spoke up.

"Or what about this. You're fucked WayneWayne. The captain of the HFPD is on his way here right now, and you're going to spend the rest of their life in prison, there's no question about that" Kendall began, causing WayneWayne to roll his eyes.

"I'm still not hearing a reason to tell you shit" WayneWayne replied, causing James to slam his head into the roof again.

"But, if you tell us what we need to know, maybe we can convince the judge to go easier on you for complying with a police investigation." Kendall continued, causing WayneWayne to let out a sadistic chuckle.

"There's no fucking way you'd do that for me" he replied, causing Kendall to shrug.

"At the end of the day, it's your choice. You can either tell us what we want to know, and get leniency, or James here is going to torture what he needs out of you and then you're going to spend the rest of your life in a dark dingy cell" Kendall reiterated, pulling James' hand away from WayneWayne to give him some breathing room.

WayneWayne spat out some blood once again, but when the three of them heard the garage door go once again to reveal Gustavo in his police uniform, WayneWayne let out a sigh.

"Fine, but you better fucking go through on your word" WayneWayne stated, causing Kendall to nod, while James just stared at him with death in his eyes. "All of my orders come in via phone call. I don't know who it is as their voice is modulated but they just tell me what to do and where to go" WayneWayne stated, and that was enough for James to lunge forward once again and pin him to the car.

"That's it? That's all you can tell us?" James growled, causing Gustavo to run up to him.

"James, what are you doing?" Gustavo hissed, causing James to shrug briefly. "

Trying to get some information out of this sack of shit!" James replied, tightening his hold on WayneWayne as he went to slam his head against his car once again.

"Ok, ok fine!" WayneWayne said, causing James to loosen his hold slightly. "I'm asked to send photos of the crashes back to the Crime Boss and that means that I have a number that I send them too! I'll give you that number, it's in my phone" WayneWayne revealed, causing James to reach into his pocket and pull the object out.

Accessing the phone, James scrolled through WayneWayne's contacts until he landed on the number in question.

"Get that to Logan, he should be able to trace it," James said, causing Kendall to nod as he texted the number to the brunet.

"So are you going to keep up your end of the deal?" WayneWayne asked, causing Gustavo to raise his eyebrow.

"What deal?" the captain asked, causing James to shake his head.

"I don't have a clue what this sack of shit is talking about" James replied, and when Gustavo looked over at Kendall, the blond just shrugged again.

"You fucking assholes!" WayneWayne shouted, but it went ignored as Gustavo began to handcuff him.

"Help me get him out to the car" Gustavo ordered, causing James to nod as he began to pull WayneWayne outside, the other male thrashing about to try and get free.

Still, James didn't hold back as he forced the prisoner along and as he shoved him into the car, Kendall got a text back.

"Logan was able to get a location using that number as well as the phone calls made to WayneWayne, me and Camille. They all converge at the same point, a house in the hills belonging to Kelly Wainwright. 13 Berry Ring Road" Kendall explained, causing Gustavo's eyebrows to raise slightly.

"Kelly Wainwright? Isn't she the CEO of Blizzart?" Gustavo asked, causing Kendall to nod.

"Yeah, I think so" the blond replied and that's when the two of them heard the rev of the mustang's engine. Spinning around, they both watched as James sped away, shock on their faces.

"Fuck, I should have seen this coming!" Gustavo said, pulling out his phone while Kendall continued to watch James drive away. "I've just alerted the police force to meet us there. Come on, we best get a move on if we want to catch him" Gustavo continued, causing Kendall to nod, following the captain to his police car.

* * *

James didn't even try the door handle as he reached Kelly's house, instead kicking the lock of the door causing it to break. As he rushed into his house, he was greeted with the sight of Kelly sat on her sofa staring directly at him.

"The man who figured it all out. Detective Diamond, it took you long enough" she began, causing James to scowl at her as she continued. "Or is it detective since you're no longer part of the police force"

"You're the Crime Boss?" James asked, causing Kelly to let out a little chuckle as she shook her head.

"What, am I not what you expected?" She asked, but she didn't even let James answer. "Of course I'm not. You were expecting the old, white male that you saw at the Waterway Rivalries event weren't you." She continued, causing James to nod ever so slightly. "How do you think I kept hidden for so long. Give the people what they want to believe, and a minority goes unnoticed, a perfect cover"

"Why are you doing this?" James asked, getting right to the point.

"You're not one for chat, are you? Such a pity considering that you're dear sweet boyfriend dos like to talk. Although, I suppose you do share a love for questions. Even when I told him not to ask, he couldn't resist" She replied, causing James to growl. "Fine, I'll tell you why I did it. Money, power etcetera etcetera. I wanted to be the most powerful person in the city and control both the legal and illegal side, is that what you want to hear?"

"You think this is funny?" James spat out, causing Kelly to struggle slightly.

"Don't you? It's amazing what you can get people to do when you have a little bit of dirt on them! I mean, I've got people selling their bodies for money, I've got people street racing just to pay me back, and even better, I'd got drug mules helping to orchestrate a countrywide drug ring all before I paid a medical bill one time. I mean, that's pretty hilarious, don't you?"

"I think it's fucking disgusting! I mean, think of all the people that have been killed because of you! And not just the ones you've ordered for death but also the innocent bystanders that have been caught in the crossfire. It's barbaric and all because you apparently wanted some fun"

"You generally think I did this for fun? I did this because I wanted to prove a point, wanted to prove that a black woman could do all this! This whole city is filled with fucking prejudice and corrupt! Even you, you thought that I was going to be some white male, so I did this to prove everyone fucking wrong, to prove that a black woman could do this"

"This whole city is corrupt?" James replied, almost barking out a laugh. "This whole city is corrupt because you're blackmailing people in all of the highest places!" James replied, and this time, Kelly truly let out a laugh.

"You seriously think that this city was 'pure' before I got started?" Kelly replied, laughing once again. "You're precious police commissioner was already corrupt before I blackmailed him! He was paying off local gangs and stealing drugs from the evidence lockers."

"But what about the local people? What about the innocent families that you're blackmailing to work for you?"

"I'm trying to help out the people out! Trying to provide for the less fortunate! Take your boyfriend for example! I paid for his sister's medical bills so that she could at least have a chance to get better! Or think of Camille! I bailed her dad out of jail so that they could still be a family! I'm not all bad James, despite how you look at this! Sure, this might all be to prove a point, but I'm still making a difference along the way" Kelly replied, causing James to shake his head once again.

"You're so fucked up" James stated, causing Kelly to shrug once again.

"I've heard worse" Kelly shrugged, adjusting herself on the sofa slightly. "You see, the problem is that now I've told you all that, I'm going to have to kill you. Don't want everyone to find out my identity"

"It's too late. By now, Gustavo would have alerted the entire police force to your location. Everyone's on their way to bring you and your empire down" James replied, causing Kelly to shrug once again.

"Well then, I guess I'll have to settle for the satisfaction of killing the person who figured it all out" Kelly shrugged once again and before James had time to react, she pulled a pistol on him and fired.

Time slowed as the bullet flew towards him but no matter how fast James tried to move, he just couldn't. He felt as the bullet hit his chest causing him to drop to the ground.

Another bang sounded throughout the room, James waiting for the next bullet to hit him but instead, James witnessed as bodies piled in around him, through the door and the windows.

As James hit the floor, he saw multiple police offers approach Kelly and put her into handcuffs before a familiar blond filled his sight.

A small smile grew on James' face as he saw Kendall hover over him, and although James' hearing was muffled, he could make out the blond telling him to hold on.

Still, the weight pushing down on his eyelids was immense and James couldn't resist the temptation to just close his eyes for a few seconds.

* * *

 **So there we have it! We've got the identity of the Crime Boss, which I hope was a shock to you all! I thought it might be nice to have a bit of a plot twist there! And of course, James managed to get himself into a bit of trouble so you'll have to wait and see how that pans out!**

 **Thank you so much for Guest, Winterschild11 and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter! You all felt bad for both Camille and James, which is certainly fair and I wanted to give James that little moment of clarity in this chapter that she's in a similar situation to everyone else!**

 **I will see you all next Thursday for the final chapter of this story, and I hope you all have an amazing week! But until then,**

 **TTFN 😀🚗**


	35. Chapter 35

**Hi guys and welcome back to the final chapter of Rush and Response! Wow, it has certainly been a journey getting here, but we're finally at the end! So, let's crack right on with this, shall we?**

* * *

James woke up to a bright white light shining into his eyes as well as a pleasant euphoric feeling through his body, causing a small smile to grow on his face. "Is this what death feels like?" James found himself saying, and that caused Kendall, in the seat next to the hospital bed James was lying in, to jump up from the chair, and into James' field of vision. "Kendall, you're here as well?" James found himself asking, the smile on his face growing.

"James, you're not dead," Kendall said, grabbing James' hand as he spoke, small tears forming in his eyes. "You're in the hospital and they've given you morphine to help numb the pain" Kendall continued, causing James to let out a little chuckle.

"I'm not in any pain silly" James replied, causing a small smile to grow on Kendall's face at how out of it James was. "I'm just really tired" James continued, causing Kendall to nod, as he wiped the tears from his eyes.

"Alright, then go back to sleep. I'll be right here when you wake up" Kendall said, causing James to smile back at him once again.

"You're the best, you know that right?" James said, causing a tear to roll down Kendall's cheek as James drifted back off into slumber.

* * *

The second time James woke up, he was a little bit more coherent, and this time he could feel the pain that Kendall was talking about the last time.

"Kendall?" James found himself staying on instinct, the brunet trying to sit up in his bed as he did so. That caused a sharp pain to sear through his chest, causing him to look down only to see that his arm was in a sling.

"Don't try to move," Kendall said from beside him, causing James to turn his head towards the blond.

"What happened?" James asked, pushing himself up ever so slightly, despite the pain that was coursing through him.

"You were shot remember?" Kendall said, causing James to nod briefly.

He remembered being shot, but that was really about it.

"Kelly was aiming for your heart, but thankfully she missed. Still, the bullet severed your aorta, and if it wasn't for the medics at the scene, you'd be dead. They were able to make you survive long enough to get to the hospital, and you were in surgery for 6 hours. That was 3 days ago" Kendall continued, causing James' eyes to widen at the revelation.

"Is everyone else alright?" James asked, not quite sure what to say in response.

"Everyone else is fine, as they weren't stupid enough to barge into the Crime Boss' house without backup" Kendall commented, as he dropped back down into his chair. "I still don't get why you did it. Why you raced off like that. You literally could have been killed, James!" Kendall chastised, but James could see the tears forming in his eyes. "Why did you do it?" Kendall asked once again, causing James to let out a sigh as he tried to shrug, causing pain to sear through his chest once again.

Wincing slightly, James finally spoke up. "I don't know. It's just when I found out who the Crime Boss was, I got so angry for what she'd put everyone through, and I acted on impulse" James replied, before letting out another sigh. "I know it was stupid, and that I shouldn't have done it alone, but I…I wanted to see the person who had put everyone, put you through so much and bring an end to it all" James continued, causing Kendall to wipe the tears from his eyes.

"Well, you certainly did that. Kelly Wainwright has gotten life imprisonment without the possibility of parole and as we speak, the police are working to bring down the rest of her crime ring. It seems Kelly was good at keeping paper files with information on them, so they're slowly being reviewed and worked through" Kendall replied, causing a small smile to grow on James' face before a thought crossed his mind, causing him to frown.

"And what about the crew?" he asked, but before Kendall could answer, his hospital room door swung open.

"They've all been pardoned and were allowed to divide all their money between the 5 of them as per the terms of our agreement" Gustavo spoke up, causing James to turn his head towards the police captain. "Detective, it's nice to see you back in the land of the living. Now I can give you a bollocking for disregarding for direct order" Gustavo continued, causing James to let out a little chuckle.

"I wasn't on the payroll remember, so it doesn't count" James replied, causing Gustavo to let out a chuckle of his own.

"I suppose not," Gustavo said, letting out a sigh. "Still, I'm glad this whole thing is finally over, and I have you to thank you for that. Without you, this case would still be at a standstill and the HFPD would still be riddled with corrupt cops" Gustavo continued, causing a small smile to grow on his face.

"I can't take all of the credit Captain; without your trust, I won't have been able to do this" James replied, causing Gustavo to shrug slightly.

"Well this is getting too emotional for my taste, so I'm just going to say what I came in here to say. There's a job waiting for you back at the HFPD if you want it. The department is looking for a new sergeant" Gustavo stated, causing James' eyes to widen.

"Really?" James asked, causing Gustavo to nod.

"Of course. You're a fine officer, and this is certainly well deserved." Gustavo said before a small smile broke out on his face. "Besides, I can't think of anyone better to look after our new vehicle technician" Gustavo continued, causing James' eyes to widen as he glanced over at Kendall.

"Technician Knight reporting for duty" Kendall joked, letting out a little chuckle as he did so.

"You're working for the HFPD?" James asked in shock, causing pain in his chest once again.

Wincing, James watched as Kendall nodded. "Yeah, I'm working as a mechanic. It's nothing fancy, but it's better than being a waiter, it's something I love to do, and it puts my skills to use" Kendall replied, causing a small smile to grow on his face.

"So, what do you say Sergeant? You up for it?" Gustavo asked, causing James to nod.

"It would be an honour captain" James replied, causing Gustavo to extend his hand for a handshake, one that James eagerly, yet gently, met with his free hand.

* * *

It was about a week later when James was finally allowed out of the hospital, and he was certainly grateful for that fact. While it was nice being catered for, after 10 days of doing nothing but laying in a bed, James was happy to be back out into the world.

As he waited at the front doors for Kendall to bring the car around, James certainly couldn't help but reflect on the journey he'd been on. When he was first assigned to this case, it was safe to say that James didn't think this would be the result.

To be honest, he thought it would be a breeze, with him being able to quickly pile up evidence but boy was he wrong. Along the way, he'd gained people he'd never thought would ever be his allies and he'd also lost people he thought would always be there for him. It was certainly a rollercoaster in terms o the ups and downs, but the outcome had been reasonable.

James wasn't going to lie to himself and that this was the outcome he'd wanted because it wasn't, but it certainly had its positives. James was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard a familiar horn, causing his head to quickly turn towards it, and as he did so, a small smile grew on his face. Sat in front of him was the car James had spent some much time in, and, unexpectedly, developed an attachment too.

"Gustavo said that as a sergeant, you deserve a company car and I couldn't think of a better one that your Audi" Kendall said through the opened window, causing James to let out a little chuckle as he climbed in. "Plus, the upside of this is that it's still kicked out. As part of the agreement, I had to bring the mustang back into legal specifications, but that technically doesn't apply to this" Kendall continued, and as soon as James was secure, the blond revved the engine just to prove the point, the engine quickly filling the surrounding area with noise.

"Admit it, you love this car" James stated, causing Kendall to shrug slightly.

"I will admit that I like it a lot better now it's not spying on me" Kendall replied, causing James to let out a little chuckle as the blond finally pulled away from the hospital.

As they drove through the streets of Hyperion Falls, James couldn't help but take in the scenery of the city before him, and that was only extenuated when Kendall took him up to the top of the waterfall. Pulling into a spot where they could overlook the city, Kendall let out a sigh as he turned out the engine.

"I didn't want to say this any earlier because you were still recovering, but you really scared the fucking shit out of me, you know that right" Kendall began, his eyes glued to the front windshield. "I really thought that you were dead, and…I suddenly couldn't have imagined my life without out. I really love you James, and I don't know what I would have done if you'd died" Kendall continued, causing James to reach other with his good hand and place it into Kendall's.

"I love you too, and I'm still here. You don't need to imagine your life without me because I'm still in it and I promise I won't do anything as stupid as that again"

"You're damn right you won't" Kendall replied, finally glancing over at James, with tears in his eyes. "Now that I working with you, I'm not letting you out of my sight" Kendall replied, letting out a little chuckle as he did so to try and lighten the mood.

Holding each other's hands, Kendall let out a sigh once again.

"I still can't believe we did it. There was always a small part of me that doubted we could, but we actually fucking did it" Kendall said, causing James to let out a little chuckle as he squeezed Kendall's hand.

"And we couldn't have done it without you. If it wasn't for you, this whole case would have been a bust." James replied, causing Kendall to shake his head.

"No, if it wasn't for you, this whole case would have been a bust. I'm just the dumb blond who let you into my street racing crew" Kendall replied, letting out a little self-deprecating chuckle as he did so.

"You're more than that Kendall" James said, flashing the blond a smile as he did so. "You're the dumb blond that let me into your crew and then helped save the entire city" James replied, causing them both of chuckle once again.

Silence seemed to fall over the car after James' comment, but neither of them minded. It was nice for the two of them to be able to sit in their car, overlooking the city without having to worry about the impending doom they might face.

With the two of them together, it truly felt like they could face anything, and they no longer had to rush or fear the response.

* * *

 **So there we have it! James survived being shot in the chest, and everything's worked out alright for the lot of them!**

 **I want to say a massive thank you to Guest, Winterschild11, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter and I'm so glad you liked it! I'm glad I all shocked you with the Kelly reveal as that's been something I've been planning for a while, and hopefully you've all enjoyed this chapter! I also want to say a massive thank you to everyone who has stuck with his story right to the very end! I know it's certainly been a bit shaky at some points, with me not uploading but thank you all so much for sticking with it!**

 **Anyway, the next story I'll be uploading/completing with be Blizzard (as you probably expected) and I'm not entirely sure when that will be up. I'm going to try and get it so that I'll be uploading that story on Monday's like it usually would be, but whether that happens this Monday or not, I'm not sure. Hopefully though, I'll be able to get it written over the weekend! Anyway, Blizzard will be next!**

 **Also, I hope you all have a nice Halloween! I'm planning on spending my evening getting drunk and watching scary films so wish me luck! Anyway, until I see you next,**

 **TTFN 😀🚗**


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